Page 36 - Folk Boat Year Book 2022

Redwych US66 by Anna McElwaine

Last year I took the plunge and bought a Folkboat. Having sailed dinghies on and off
for many years, advancing age and creaking joints had started to persuade me that I

needed to move up into a slightly larger category of vessel. I didn’t want to lose the
sense of fun and immediacy that comes with dinghies, however, nor did I want to find
myself helming at too alarming a distance from the bow! A bit of research led me to
the conclusion that a Folkboat would fit the bill nicely. I had to weigh up the pros and
cons of a racing vs cruising outfit and, although I had enjoyed dinghy racing, I
concluded that a big advantage of a keel boat would be the ability to go places, so I
decided that a cruising set up would be best for me. There was also the wood vs GRP
debate, and here I managed to hit on an unusual compromise, finding a boat that has
a GRP hull with a wooden superstructure, giving her a pretty appearance without the
vast amount of work that goes with a completely wooden boat. (The coach roof has
already caused me more work than the rest of the boat put together so I am quite
glad I resisted any romantic impulse to go fully classic!)

Redwych is not a young boat, having been built in Canada by Abbotts of Sarnia, in
1968. Unfortunately I have not managed to find out very much about her early life in
North America but her last owner before she came to the UK lived in Three Forks,
Montana, quite some way from any coast! I don’t know if she was ever registered in
Canada, or was purchased directly from Abbotts by her first American owner, but her
sail number of US 66 (which she still retains) suggests perhaps the latter.

She was shipped over here, leaving America on 11 December 2007 from the Port of
Houston, and arrived in Poole, where she was treated to a full refurbishment. It
might have been at this point
that she acquired her 10hp beta
marine engine and heads,
neither of which was likely to
have been part of her original
design, and her aluminium mast,
which is deck stepped. Despite
finding a photograph of her
undergoing this refit, I have not
been able to identify the yard
which carried out the work.

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