Comments on: John Watkinson and the Elliott Brothers https://smallboatsmonthly.com/article/drascombe-boats-and-the-elliott-brothers/ Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:33:05 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.2 By: Donald Sullivan https://smallboatsmonthly.com/article/drascombe-boats-and-the-elliott-brothers/#comment-156642 Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:33:05 +0000 https://smallboatsmonthly.com/?post_type=article&p=242651#comment-156642 I had a Drascombe lugger in the early 90s for 10 years and fell in love with her. But for various reasons that men upscale their boating experience, which I can’t explain, I did the same and eventually owned a Pilot 35. But I always loved my Lugger and so in 2019, I built myself a Caledonia Yawl, which was about as close as I could come to the Drascombe . . . and she is a beautiful boat too.

]]> By: gijsvankemenade@gmail.com https://smallboatsmonthly.com/article/drascombe-boats-and-the-elliott-brothers/#comment-155762 Fri, 14 Feb 2025 18:31:21 +0000 https://smallboatsmonthly.com/?post_type=article&p=242651#comment-155762 I have sailed Drascombes for more then 20 years. Since last year I have owned a very beautiful wooden lugger that was built in the winter of 2021. She is in a perfect condition and always stored in a garage. I give her the name ONIRO, Greek for Dream.

]]> By: kent lewis https://smallboatsmonthly.com/article/drascombe-boats-and-the-elliott-brothers/#comment-155754 Fri, 14 Feb 2025 17:13:28 +0000 https://smallboatsmonthly.com/?post_type=article&p=242651#comment-155754 Another thing about Drascombes is that they make friends, we always get a visitor or two wander by when we are rigging the Lugger, and they are full of questions, stories or both.

]]> By: Douglas Elliott https://smallboatsmonthly.com/article/drascombe-boats-and-the-elliott-brothers/#comment-155697 Fri, 14 Feb 2025 07:28:26 +0000 https://smallboatsmonthly.com/?post_type=article&p=242651#comment-155697 I intend to write more articles involving the Wooden Drascombe, I have wonderful memories about building them and some interesting people who we built them for. I recall one customer, who remained a good friend, we built a varnished Drascombe Lugger for him, as well as a small varnished Praam dinghy as a tender, his wife wasn’t too enthusiastic, but when he visited our Boatyard along with his wife, we’d just completed the Praam dinghy. Upon seeing it, his wife said “The dinghy has a better finish than my sideboard”. That was the moment that his wife decided she wanted to be a sailor. They spent many happy hours on their boat, named “Saga” because of his wife’s initial resistance to getting a boat.

]]> By: Douglas Elliott https://smallboatsmonthly.com/article/drascombe-boats-and-the-elliott-brothers/#comment-155693 Fri, 14 Feb 2025 07:09:01 +0000 https://smallboatsmonthly.com/?post_type=article&p=242651#comment-155693 In reply to Bayard Buetow.

The overriding requirement when John Watkinson designed the Drascombe Lugger was to have a boat that would give him, in his own words, “A rattling good sail, have good sea keeping qualities, but would keep my wife Kate happy.” He certainly managed to do that! I’m honoured to have been part of the Drascombe history.
Doug

]]> By: Douglas Elliott https://smallboatsmonthly.com/article/drascombe-boats-and-the-elliott-brothers/#comment-155688 Fri, 14 Feb 2025 06:52:40 +0000 https://smallboatsmonthly.com/?post_type=article&p=242651#comment-155688 In reply to David Cockey.

Kent, a very old man I knew once said to me. “Your kindness is exceeded only by your personal beauty.”
I think that was meant to be a compliment.
Doug

]]> By: Chris Noto https://smallboatsmonthly.com/article/drascombe-boats-and-the-elliott-brothers/#comment-155353 Wed, 12 Feb 2025 08:17:14 +0000 https://smallboatsmonthly.com/?post_type=article&p=242651#comment-155353 Thanks for this really lovely, intimate history of the Drascombe boats and the people who were involved in their origin. I was thinking how remarkable my emotional response to this story is, especially considering that I have never seen one of these boats in the flesh, and suddenly I remembered Webb Chiles’ stories of his circumnavigation in a Lugger, and it all made perfect sense. My heartfelt thanks to all who have had a part in the making and telling of this story!

]]> By: Bayard Buetow https://smallboatsmonthly.com/article/drascombe-boats-and-the-elliott-brothers/#comment-154637 Fri, 07 Feb 2025 19:39:23 +0000 https://smallboatsmonthly.com/?post_type=article&p=242651#comment-154637 Your retrospective on the Drascombe family of boats has compelled me to share my enthusiasm for John Watkinson’s design (I sail a Lugger on the Puget Sound). As most of us know, boat design is an exercise in compromise so my observation is that Watkinson has selected the best attributes that a person would want in a multi-purpose, family dayboat. Here are a few of my favorites:
– A large open cockpit with boomless main (much appreciated when sharing the excursion with friends and family.)
– A yawl rig that allows many options for matching the sail area to conditions.
– A deep forefoot that handles steep chop with composure.
– A kick-up rudder that projects through the hull, forward of the mizzen, providing better grip in heavy seas and also putting the skipper’s weight amidship for better trim.
– Easy to go ashore (toss anchor off bow, back down onto the beach, off-load crew and picnic over the stern.)
While the boat is very capable (and I am still learning) I have accepted that she will not sail as close to the wind as her single-minded, high-aspect-ratio cousins. So, when I find myself on an upwind leg and late for dinner, I remind myself that she is a “multi-purpose” boat, and is so handy in so many ways, there’s no shame to dropping in the motor to help ensure a timely arrival.

]]> By: David Cockey https://smallboatsmonthly.com/article/drascombe-boats-and-the-elliott-brothers/#comment-154083 Mon, 03 Feb 2025 21:23:13 +0000 https://smallboatsmonthly.com/?post_type=article&p=242651#comment-154083 Another builder of wood Drascombes was East/West Boats of Kittery/Eliot Maine. They built nine wood Drascombes in the 1980’s and another around 2000.

]]> By: kent lewis https://smallboatsmonthly.com/article/drascombe-boats-and-the-elliott-brothers/#comment-154082 Mon, 03 Feb 2025 21:19:30 +0000 https://smallboatsmonthly.com/?post_type=article&p=242651#comment-154082 It would be hard to find a more giving, patient, funny, kind and knowledgeable sailor in our small boat world than Doug. We are honored to call him friend, and Bilge Rat.

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