SUMMER NEWSLETTER-35-JULY 2026
Sumara heads towards Greenland…….again!
Our opening photograph shows Sumara sailing off the north coast of Iceland.
As I sit here in sunny South Devon, enjoying the latest heatwave which is made comfortable by the afternoon sea-breeze that kicks in every day, I’m getting increasingly excited by the stream of posts being beamed south from within the Arctic Circle. Alasdair Flint is having another go at exploring Scoresby Sund in East Greenland, aboard the brave Sumara, and the latest ice predictions are looking promising…… we can only continue to watch this fascinating challenge as Alasdair beams his fascinating reports south to the rest of us, and wish him and his crew the very best of luck!
The East Greenland Ice Chart report of a few days ago. I never thought we would be including Ice Charts in our descriptions of the brave explorations of our redoutable little Vertue Yachts!
Elsewhere in our Summer Newsletter we have a short report from our other northern explorer, Matteo, who describes his cruise to southern Norway aboard the lovely Mea, and illustrates it with some stunning pictures. Across the North Atlantic, Peter Henry has written a description of his immaculate boat Ariel, including a delightful story of what it is like to cruise on the Chesapeake Bay. A complete contrast to this is provided by the latest report from Joop vanSon showing the progress he is making to turn his dream of building Vertue 239 into reality…..in his garage in the Netherlands! Bon Courage mon ami! A lesser task confronts Massimo who is refurbishing Peter Woolass’ old Stelda, and we’re looking forward to reporting on her future sailing exploits amongst the Adriatic Vertue Fleet. An important function of VertueYachts.com is to help find new homes for old and second-hand Vertues. We can now show a list of Vertues for Sale, and I am pleased to be able to report that the lovely gaff-rigged Fionn has recently sold. An equally attractive older boat, Serif, with one of the liveliest sheerlines of any Vertue, is also still For Sale in Plymouth. I know her well and can vouch for the tender care with which she has been looked after for many years. We have also included some details of Kelda whose owners are desperate to find a new owner for their boat. Finally, the last grp Vertue to be moulded by Bossoms, Eden Marindin, is now on her way back from the Azores after a brave attempt to sail single-handed to Newport. I hope that Hugh will be writing about his experiences with this very interesting boat in future Newsletters.
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Mea sails to Norway!
by Matteo Richiardi
Matteo and Luis on their way to Norway
I was lucky with the weather on my way up the North Sea, without even having to wait for it. A gentle southerly breeze carried us the 440 nautical miles from Harwich to Mandal in exactly four days, allowing me to fly the spinnaker continuously for a record 24 hours. (My previous best had been 18 hours, between Tuscany and Naples, some years earlier). Luis, a mate I had met at the yard in Pin Mill, accompanied me, for the relief of family and friends who do not understand that it’s not the number of hands that make a safe passage, on a small boat. Luckily, we were not tested by the weather, but I reckon that he would have proved a valuable crew member. Many of his stories will stay with me: Luis has lived in half a dozen countries – including Norway – after having come to Europe to flee civil war in his native Angola. Discussing Palestine, neo-colonialisms and conspiracy theories on a small boat in the middle of the North Sea bears some risks, but I guess we both enjoyed the conversation and learnt something from the other.
Mandal
Uvar
Lessons learnt this year? Not many, with a benign weather and a well-prepared boat. But – too late to advise my past self – I have put together some remarks for when I will return, hopefully – wait for the next post!
Lyngoybukta
Unfortunately, all good things come to an end, and after almost a month and a half I had to sail back home. As the old saying goes, sailing is often a matter of outwaiting the weather, and I slowly moved down the coast waiting for the most favourable wind. Eventually, I bade farewell to Lindesnes, the Southerly tip of Norway with its eponymous lighthouse, and sailed south-west around a big area of high pressure, before the north-easterlies finally kicked in and pushed me like an express train towards home. The racer in me had high hopes of beating my time on the outward journey, but I was a bit sick with the flue and took it easy. Result: exactly 4 days again!
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ARIEL V 90
By Peter Henry
Ariel
Virtue V90 Ariel was built by Elkins, in Christchurch, England in 1958. She was built with a frame of English Oak, Planked in Teak and mahogany, her decks are plywood covered in canvas. The interior was finished in mahogany and her spars are Sitka Spruce with a double headed sail layout of Genoa and Staysail and a Bermudan main sail. To complete its suite of sails there are 2 staysails, storm Jib, trysail and a spinnaker.
Saloon looking forward
The overall configuration is that of a 6′ long cockpit with storage lockers below and in the stern, with bridge deck leading to a ladder to the interior. The cabin top configuration is the long doghouse type with 2 windows on each side providing standing headroom in the galley and settee area. Below on the port side is a Tailors Cooker and to starboard an ice chest with chart table above. There are 2 settees, one per side with counter top over foot wells and cabinetry towards the bow. Beyond these there is a double door through a bulkhead leading to a Baby Blake head and lockers on both sides. In the bow there is a sail locker to port and a pipe cot to starboard and the chain locker beyond the head.
The engine is a Beta 14 with a 12 gallon diesel tank to starboard and a matching water tank to port. Her exterior ballast keel is made of lead.
I have not been able to find any record of how Ariel came from England, where she was built, to the United States. I understand that her first American owner was in New York and ran a road paving business but there is no record of his name. Her second owner was a landscape architect who kept her on Lake Champlain. From there she was moved to Mystic, Connecticut and was owned by Simon Potter, with whom I have been in contact. He had her out of the water for 5 years while he completed a major retrofit including replacing all the steel floors with bronze and adding a self steering gear of a non commercial design (which I now call Simon in his honor). Simon sold the boat to Tom Ellis who had it transported to Maryland and used her for many years based in Galesville. During his time he replaced the original engine with the current Beta 14. I purchased Ariel from Tom in 2019 and have been her caretaker ever since.
I have made numerous changes and improvements including new VHF, AIS systems, complete rewiring of the back of house including new battery boxes, circuit breaker panels to improve safety. Adding a tiller pilot (R2D2) for low wind single handed sailing. Simon the wind vane works best over 15 knots. I have also added an engine shaft driven emergency bilge pump. I am currently working on a second-hand pump installation to replace the original one that was removed from the boat at some point.
Saloon with galley aft
In my time as owner I have done all the maintenance on her myself, including biannual hull painting. We have been painting the bottom using Kirby Copper Shield 45. The topsides have been painted with Pettit EZPoxy. The canvas decks have been painted using EZPoxy but we are intending to replace the canvas in the coming year and will be using a Kirby paint on the new decks along with his bedding compound.
Topsides and bottom paintwork
EZPoxy Deck Paint
I have been cruising the Chesapeake extensively in this little ship for many years now and find her to be a great platform for exploring the bay and hopefully soon beyond. She is quite content to be sailing 3 knots in a 10kt wind on the beam with her genoa and main fully out. Tacking into the wind 2 knots is more common and when the wind is blowing 20kt she does quite well reefed down using the boom roller furler with only 2/3’s of the sail up and the #1 staysail. Over 30kts we try to be in the bar, or at anchor in a cove, but it would be best using the storm jib and trysail. Though we have been in many a lumpy sea and seen gusts up to 50kts in thunderstorms she does not give you the sense that you will be swimming. Using the Beta 14 she will do 4kts @ 2700 rpm on a relatively calm sea. But once you get the short chop and 20kt winds on the nose its going to be very slow to make headway.
Recently I went on a solo sail from Deale, MD to Oxford MD leaving Deale around noon with small whitecaps forming on the bay once into open waters. I was reefed down to 2/3 main and No1 Staysail as we crossed the bay at a comfortable 3.5kts with Simon doing 90% of the work arriving after a few hours at the entrance to Knapp’s Narrows which is very shallow. We then switched to motor and handed the sails, and using Aqua Map’s Sonar survey we managed to pass through the very narrow and shallow entrance channel without kissing bottom which shows a depth of 5’ and Ariel Draws 4.5’. The depth sounder showed 3.5’ at one point but it is a few feet underwater being located under the starboard settee. After clearing the shallows we stopped at Gina’s by the Knapps Narrows bridge for an early dinner tied up at their dock. As the sun was nearing the horizon we cast off and requested a bridge opening from the bridge tender passing into the Choptank River as the sun set in an orange haze.
Choptank River sunset
Cruising in the Chesapeake
As darkness approached we transited up Harris Creek under full sail and a tailwind passing the narrow entrance gap at 3kts which was a little exciting. Once inside Dun cove we set anchor for the night. As soon as the anchor was set, next up was our large forward hatch wind vent which fills the cabin on windy nights with a fresh breeze, critical in these parts during the summer months. Lounging on the after deck as the sky turned dark and an array of stars filled the blue from the sun.
Ariel’s companionway with one of the cockpit dodgers rigged as a useful half-bimini.
The next morning I was awoken by the sound of a crabber’s classic work boat puttering by as he was long lining for his wage and the ships clock ringing 2 bells was signaling that it was far past time to get going. Given that it was a south-west wind day I decided to head east up the Choptank River towards the town of Oxford where my great grandfather used to spend his summers. It was a 10 mile passage and given the mid summer heat I decided to make short work of it. Under motor to the mouth of Harris creak I set the main and Genoa on a broad reach with the main’s boom preventer set in the fashion of “Stelda, George and I. I made good time up the Choptank with R2D2 at the helm and me tending the sheets. The bay was full of crabbing boats which made me wonder how there were any crabs left on the bottom, though I am always happy to see a wood boat in action.
By noon I had reached the Tred Avon rivers entrance which is a fawlorn looking set of posts with a beacon above where once stood a beautiful screw pile lighthouse. Jibing and setting a teacloth as a shade, to hide from the now ominous sun that felt like the nuclear fire it is, I hid in its shade passing by numerous swarms of little Opti boats filled with school aged children racing. Once past the Oxford-Bellview Ferry. One of the oldest in the United States, I set anchor off “The Strand” which is the sandy beach along the front of town. I launched my dinghy and rowed to shore to find lunch. Since it was a Wednesday and this is a weekend town the only available choice on mainstreet was the local market with its lunch counter and Ice Cream stand. I hit both since I was starving along with lots of iced water. After lunch I went to explore “Cutts and Case Shipyard” which is one of the few places on the bay where wooden boats are cared for, and it’s not to be missed if you’re into wooden boats. Oxford is a lovely little town with many nicely appointed traditional houses on a classic street grid. Something that America used to do very well, but it seems that we have forgotten how to create such things these days….. along with our sense of how to make things and what democracy means. After returning to Ariel the evening was spent reading in the cockpit under the stars and checking the next days wind forecast. As the evening wore on the wind shifted to the north and calmed which brought with it a few mosquitos so up went the bug screens on the front hatch and the rear companionway so that one could rest in peace.
The next morning started right after sunrise with the weighting of the anchor. The forecast was for hot and sticky with little breeze. There was some breeze at first so sails were set and we were blown down the Tred Avon at a reasonable speed but as soon was we reached the Choptank the wind died so the motor replaced sails and R2 took over helm while the lee cloths were put to work creating shade. By 10 we were back at Knapp’s Narrows where we took on Diesel and Water, critical on a hot day. Starting to head back across the Bay the wind returned this time from the south east at 10kts putting us on a broad reach thus the Genoa was polled out and the preventer rigged. It was a very hazy day due to the smoke from fires in Canada and we might as well have been mid ocean since the shore disappeared entirely. Watching the AIS I realized that there was a large commercial ship heading towards us at 24kts. Not wanting to be in its way I slowed the boat to a crawl until its mass loomed out of the haze and passed one mile in front of us just to disappear again. The rest of the crossing was a bubble of haze with the sighting of some rays, schools of fish and rafts of lantern flys on the water. By three I was rounding the mark to enter Herring Bay and up to Deale our home port.
While I am dreaming of a longer adventure, perhaps the Bahamas in the winter or Newfoundland in the summer, I have very much enjoyed sailing and maintaining Ariel in the Chesapeake Bay and hope to do so for many years to come.
by Peter Granville Henry
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VERTUE 239 The building progresses:
by Joop van Son
I am still working on some details and have not yet started planking the hull. Here are some photos of my progress on V239 in the last year.
First added a 2nd layer at the keelson and fixed the stringers
Then created the shaft log
After that I started gluing the beam shelf.
Beam-shelf
When the beam shelf was completed, I have been adding the connection between bow and beam shelf.
Breast-hook-bow
I had to create a tent because the temperature was a bit low.
The connections (knee) between stern and beam shelf
Extra layer stern-knee
At the stern I added an extra rim for a greater surface for glueing the hull planking.
Now I am shaping/fairing everything (bow, keelson, stern, frames, bulkheads) before I can start planking. This is mainly done by sanding and is quite a slow process.
The timbers, oak, iroko and plywood are all very resistant especially in combination with the epoxy.
Shaping the bow etc
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STELDA
Stelda was one of the most well-known Vertues thanks to the writings of her celebrated owner, Peter Woolass, who wrote two celebrated books about her, and the Vertue Class. These are described in the Books section of this website. She has now been taken to a yard near Trieste where her new owner, Massimo, is supervising a deep refit before she will be ready to take part in the famous Barcolana Race in the autumn. We are looking forward to seeing some more pictures of her in commission soon, and ready to join the Vertue fleet at that great regatta!
Stelda has been fully refurbished below.
Stelda’s engine is having a thorough overhaul after several years of silence.
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VERTUES FOR SALE and SOLD
As part of a service to Vertue owners we have been listing those boats that are for sale for some time now. As everyone knows, the market is not exactly brisk, but I’m pleased to report that a new owner has now taken on the completion of Fionn’s refit and is planning to take her to a new home in Denmark.
Here is Fionn near Sydney shortly after she was built. She is probably the only gaff cutter rigged Vertue with a true ocean coachroof and layout below. What a lovely picture! Several other gaff-rigged Vertues have been described in earlier Newsletters.
Serif in Plymouth
SERIF is one of the those rare Vertues drawn with the wonderfully springy sheer of the early post-war boats. She’s a very special boat in excellent condition and is for sale near Plymouth at the very low price of £8,500.
For details of other Vertues on the market please see the selection under Vertues for Sale.
KELDA
Ann and Andy Joyce have very sadly been forced to find a new home for Kelda in America as Andy is so ill with cancer that he can no longer look after the boat. They are prepared to give the boat away to someone who will take her on to complete her refit.
Kelda awaiting a refit
This lovely photo of Kelda was sent to VertueYachts in 2020.
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Eden Marindin and the 2026 JESTER CHALLENGE Update
Three of the four boats that left Plymouth in May have now pulled out, including Eden Marindin. Hugh emailed me from the Azores saying that the boat had behaved magnificently but that the crew had become completely exhausted with continuing seasickness, and had very reluctantly decided to retire. They are now sailing back to the UK and are planning further adventures for the future.
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The Stern Locker
This Newsletter nearly didn’t see the light of day, as no one seemed inclined to send us any News until very recently. Dear Vertue owners and enthusiasts, unless I get sent YOUR news, nothing will appear before Christmas……..please try harder!
On a lighter note, I wonder how many readers noticed that amongst this totally random set of short news items, Vertues coincidentally numbered 89, 90 and 91 have all appeared……and can you remember which is which, without looking?! So thank you once again to those of you who have sent in your news, including Alasdair, Matteo, Peter, Joop, Massimo, Craig, John, Ann and Hugh.
And on an even lighter, final note, I wonder how many VertueYachts.com readers know about the marvelous Albert Stange Association monthly Newsletters. Albert Strange Association news@albertstrange.org They have some wonderful articles, not least following the adventures of the redoubtable cutter Tally Ho!, and are kind enough to list a link through to our website. It is published online promptly at midnight on the last day of every month……. and I’m sure it will be remembered that when Jack Laurent Giles was a lad, growing up in Scarborough, that Albert Strange lived just down the road! Funny, that.
Fair winds, Roger
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Post Script
Ittoqqortoormiitt Scoresby Sund: East Greenland!
Here is a picture taken by Alasdair only a couple of days ago showing Sumara entering Scoresby Sund to anchor off the wonderfully named settlement of Ittoqqortoormiit ! See Ice map of East Greenland at the beginning of the newsletter. Huge congratulations to Sumara and all her crew!
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