“You have to have a passion for wooden boats and be slightly mad to commission a brand-new one these days,” said Simon Wisker, owner of the new gaff cutter Constance. “You are making a personal investment in preserving traditional skills without getting it back in financial terms.”
Simon began sailing in the early 1970s when his father built a Mirror dinghy. For several years he and his family sailed this boat, and then later a Wayfarer, in Poole harbour near their home, and also on family holidays on the Percuil River, near St Mawes in Cornwall. Having continued to sail a bit at university in Exeter and then in Aberdeen, he built a 14ft (4.26m) clinker dinghy and took his own children sailing in the Lake District and on the west coast of Scotland. Ten years ago, retirement brought him back to Exeter, from where he went on holiday to St Mawes, which is where his interest in gaff cutters began.
Seeing the 1895 Falmouth working boat on the harbour beach having a scrub in readiness for Falmouth Sailing Week about 10 years ago, he chatted to one of her skippers, Bill Handley. belongs to a syndicate, and when it became apparent that there was a share available, Simon agreed to buy one. This resulted in frequent journeys between Exeter and St Mawes, and Simon often found himself leaving his crew mates
