was recently speaking with an old friend who is restoring a Fife-built yacht from the 1930s. As work on the hull was nearing completion he was thinking about rigging. He is, as one might say, approaching seniority in years and was unwilling to set his working jib flying as per Mr Fife’s original specification. The reasons will be obvious to anyone who has had the experience. The possible solution of a Wykeham Martin furling gear had been set aside for aesthetic reasons. It wouldn’t look quite right with the yacht at rest, he felt and, like many of us, he had suffered
