THE GREATEST GENERATION GOES TO SEA

Richard Crockatt describes how sailors land-bound in WW2 were eager to go to sea again. Edward Allcard was one of them.

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The stage was set for Allcard's historic postwar voyages which made him the first to sail the Atlantic in both directions single-handed. Given this success it is worth recalling that his initial attempt ended in failure. Departing Penzance in November 1947 in a 20-ton cutter, Content, he 'waltzed into a series of biting gales' in which critical pieces of gear broke, including the metal tiller jaws. For two days he had no means of steering and by the time he had effected a repair, the loose rudder had worked open a seam in the transom through which water was pouring. Struggling back to the Cornish shore after eight days at sea, he gave up on Content as unsuitable for single-handed voyaging.

In Dartmouth a few weeks later he came across Temptress, a 34ft yawl built in 1910, which proved a much better fit. Her 10ft beam on a waterline length of 29ft-plus her ample freeboard made for 'a little ship which for her size is remarkably stiff, able, and dry.' She carried a gaff mainsail, a Bermudan mizzen, and two headsails. Photos of her under sail show a workmanlike seagoing vessel with nothing designed for show, an approach which Allcard took with all the boats he owned. The truth was that he was sometimes inclined to go to sea before every single job had been done, relying on his knowledge and skill as a naval architect to catch up on details while under way. In the case of