St Bennets

[JennyMorgan]

 

The above picture, 1930?, shows a not very special sailing boat being sailed badley!  Skipper is sat behind the tiller meaning he will be in the way if he needs to turn left. Both the crew are sat on the 'wrong' side. The jib, albeit it probably a small one, has not been rigged meaning that the balance of the boat won't be as good as it might be. Okay, a few hire sailing boats only had the big sail but I suspect this one had both. All in all, probably not the most experienced of sailors but I suspect that they enjoyed their holiday.

 

Back in the 1960's sailing boats retained their popularity with the hirers but not the yards. Sailing boats cost less to hire so there were people who hired them and then used them as motor boats, often hammering the smaller engines that sailing boats tended to be fitted with. Turn-round days were harder work with sailing boats, both the sails and the motors needed checking and servicing. Lots of people thought that they could sail, but really couldn't, lots of sailing boats went into private hands.