Chloe Home

And all I ask is a tall ship
.... and a star to steer her by

Chloe off Falmouth - August 2002

The view from the spreaders - Bowsprit over the sound of Mull

Chloe (looking beautiful!) in Loch Scavaig - July 2003

The crowded waters of the Western Isles!!

About Chloe May

Chloe is evocative of a maritime age gone by.

Like most onlookers, you could be forgiven for thinking that Chloe was built in 1880. In fact she was built between 1980 and 1982 by Peter Nash of Dartmouth (from plans by the well known Percy Dalton of Falmouth) along the lines of the very well known 1930s yacht ‘Dyarchy’. With youth on her side, Chloe is thus an ideal hybrid: a seaworthy yacht built in the traditional way using traditional materials ...... but only 21 years old.

What type of vessel is she? Chloe is essentially a ‘Pilot Cutter’

..... though purists would argue about the use of this description! She is certainly reminiscent of the legendary Bristol Channel Pilot Cutters, although with her ‘transom’ stern she has strong Falmouth working boat influences.

History has it that when Chloe May was commissioned, Peter Nash, the builder, asked PercyDalton, the designer, to design a Bristol Channel pilot cutter. “You don’t need one of those” replied Percy, “No, what you want is a Falmouth pilot cutter” Peter Nash was convinced, and Chloe was conceived.

Pilot cutters are noted for both their speed through the water and for their strength and stability. They needed these characteristics - Chloe's working forebears had to be fiercely competitive. They would often have to race out deep into the Atlantic if they were to be first to reach incoming ships, deliver their pilots and earn their keep. Only the fastest and toughest survived! Chloe May is no exception. A sound, fast sea faring vessel, she has a Royal Yachting Association stability category rating of 0 (meaning she is very stable in the water) and has been across the Atlantic Ocean and back.

Vital Statistics!

Aboard, Chloe has the feel of a small ship rather than a medium sized yacht. She is 42 ft on deck (56ft from her transom to her bowsprit) and weighs 17 tons.
Her hull is immensely strong; constructed from oak frames, reinforced with bronze castings, overlaid with a combination of teak and iroko planking. She has a long lead keel. In the words of her first surveyor she is

“very well constructed to a high traditional standard (not often seen today) of a well established design. This type of ‘Bristol Pilot’ is a very seaworthy and sea kindly craft with good sailing qualities, a fine vessel.”

Her one time owners, the Discovery Dockland Trust at Brighton reported that

“with her kindly motion and sea keeping qualities she is happy to sail in winds up to Force 10 .... and has done so.”

In keeping with her pedigree, Chloe May was designed not only to be strong, but fast. She will cruise comfortably at 8 knots, even to windward where, unusually for a gaffer, she can sail virtually as close to wind as a modern yacht. Given a good blow she can be expected to return around 10 knots. For manoeuvering, and if the wind dies, she is powered by a Ford 90hp diesel engine with a fixed 3 bladed propeller under which 7-8 knots is normal.

Pedigree!

So what has Chloe May achieved in her 21 years? Chloe has been a well maintained and much cherished yacht with much of her life spent along the south coast. Having built her, the Nash family lived aboard her for a while (she took her name, incidentally, from Peter Nash’s young daughter). Later she was based at Brighton providing sail training with the Discovery Dockland Trust. Since 1989 she has been back in private ownership.

She has cruised extensively along the south and east coasts of the UK and also the French and Dutch coasts, recording impressive passage times. More recently, she became a transatlantic traveller, crossing to the Caribbean in the late 1990s. Chloe spent much of her 2003 season cruising amongst the magnificent scenery of NW Scotland.

Over the years Chloe May has won many races including ‘Old gaffers races’ and an Antigua Classic. Her other notable role has been that of ‘pinup’, having been in two of the Beken of Cowes “Beauty of Sail” calendars, once as the September Girl in 1990 (photo taken in the Round the Island Race) and the second as Miss August in the Millenium. When out sailing in her, prepare to be photographed! More recently still she was chartered by the BBC to appear in a forthcoming programme about Harlech Castle and its maritime connections.