Dear Mr Cornwell
I was interested to read you sail a Cornish Crabber Mark 2 with the wonderful name Royalist. My husband and I have a Mark 1 with the rather bizarre name Ruaile Buaile which is Irish for having a good time, but she does live up to her name as they are a wonderful little boat to sail. We sail the Carrickroads in Cornwall, although our boat has weathered the Irish Sea for much of her 40 years. We bought her as a project and she is glowing again due to my very clever husband and my skill with a paintbrush. You of course have the luxury of fibreglass hull and deck whereas we have the original Roger Dongray design. Fibre glass hull with marine ply decks sheathed with fibreglass. Nevertheless the Marks 1 and 2 are still considered the prettiest of all the crabber designs. How fabulous they have reached the Americas and can draw admiring looks even when in the company of so many flashy neighbours.
Enjoy your sailing
Sue Haslam
The Crabber is a gorgeous boat! And Royalist is still afloat in our harbor, but now under a different name as I sold her and bought a Beneteau Oceanis 35 instead. She’s called Seraph which is, of course, an anagram of Sharpe and lovely as she is she’s not as beautiful as a Crabber. I call her my ‘old man’s boat’ because she has in-mast furling powered by a winch which is much less stressful that hauling up a gaff, and she doesn’t have running backstays. I do miss the Crabber, but enjoy Seraph enormously. As far as I know there are 13 Crabbers in the USA and once, long ago, sailing just south of Nantucket I met one of the others – I saw the sail plan far to the west and he must have seen me as he turned at the same time and we met and happily exchanged compliments. It was a day of light wind and I had the topsail up which made him very jealous. I envy you the Ruaile Buaile and wish you fair winds!