Boats, Boffins and Bowlines

In it, the Raymarine YJA Yachtsman of the Year for 2004 expresses gratitude for this book about sailing’s inventors and innovations, which gave him, a man who had spent much of his life ‘messing about in boats’, a new insight into the history of his sport.

For ‘Boats, Boffins and Bowlines’ is an informative and entertaining tribute to sailing’s unsung heroes and heroines, who invented the mechanisms and technology that enables present day sailors and boatsmen to sail the oceans and navigate safely. This fascinating book reveals the extraordinary stories behind equipment now taken for granted which is nonetheless essential to how we now take to the sea.

Among the many stories packed into this volume are tales of how Frederick Marryat’s simple flag system was taken up by seagoing vessels everywhere in the 19th century, how Edward Massey’s Perpetual Log enabled yachtsmen to measure speed and distance travelled at sea with greater accuracy than ever before, how Hampshire yachtsman William Gordon’s invention of the spinnaker in 1865 revolutionised racing forever, how physician Claud Worth devised the easy to use anchor weight for small boats in 1890, and how Americans Edward Very and Martha Coston earned the gratitude of those at sea everywhere with their development of distress flares.

This enjoyable book gives overdue credit to the many boating pioneers whose common love of sailing has led to an astonishing succession of important developments. Author George Drower is himself a man of the sea, having sailed for over 30 years and raced at Cowes, Burnham on Crouch and in the North Sea.

The Lifeboat Service in Ireland Station by Station By Nicholas Leach. Published by Tempus Publishing Ltd ISBN 0 7524 3509 4. Paperback, 256 pages. Price £19.99 The lifeboat service of Ireland is, like that of the United Kingdom, operated by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. While there is a wealth of literature about lifeboat history and operations in the UK, very little has been published about the lifeboats and lifeboat stations in Ireland. Author Nicholas Leach has redressed that balance most effectively with this informative, well illustrated and entertaining volume which is the first full record to detail the work of the service in Ireland over two centuries.

The book is divided into two main parts, with the first providing an overview of lifeboat history in Ireland while the second gives a complete guide to the lifeboat stations past and present with a brief history of each.

Founded in 1824, the RNLI gradually expanded its operations, opening many new stations, especially in the second half of the nineteenth century. The introduction of the motor lifeboat during the early decades of the 20th century resulted in many stations being closed as the motorised boats could cover much greater distances so fewer stations were needed. Photographs of long abandoned stations as they are today are among the most evocative in this book. Also of high visual interest are 19th century illustrations of lifeboats being launched or capsize tested with entire local communities massed on the quayside to watch.

The photographic documentation brings the reader right up to date with current equipment, including a photograph of two lifeboats on an exercise taken in March of this year.

Many remarkable and courageous rescues have been performed by the lifeboat crews of Ireland and outstanding examples described in the history section all received formal recognition from the RNLI, with medals awarded to those involved.

Further accounts of notable rescues can be found in the individual entries for each station.

As Colin Williams, Ireland’s Divisional Inspector of Lifeboats says in his forward, this book will be a very useful reference publication for maritime historians in years to come. It will also be a source of pleasure for anyone who values and supports a voluntary marine rescue service that is among the best in the world.

Boats, Boffins and Bowlines
By George Drower.
Published by Sutton Publishing Limited
ISBN 0 7509 3364 X.
Hardback, 242 pages.
Price £14.99