CARESS - Part Three
In the final Part of Ian Ward’s story on the rebirth of CARESSS we look at the new rig and her design pedigree
CARESS – at full fight on Sydney Harbour, fully restored and with her new rig - Image Beth Morley
The New Rig
Originally designed and fitted with a single spreader ¾ rig, with overlapping genoa on a tapered hollow timber mast. A larger masthead rig was designed by Wally in 1962, but was never built.
During the reconstruction of CARESS, John Denton of Whale Spars was approached to come up with a rig which reflected the essence of the original but with some improvements. Capably engineered by Tony Pearce, the double spreader 7/8ths rig has small upper jumper struts which stiffen the mast in the upper panel, maintaining forestay tension.
This meant the cumbersome runners could be removed, making it much easier to sail short-handed and without needing to adjust them during each tack and gybe. The spreaders and cap shrouds remain aligned with the mast, allowing the boom to sit square for best performance when running downwind and the narrower spreaders and their location allow the genoa to be sheeted in at a closer angle for better upwind performance.
Every part of the construction and rigging has been overseen by John Denton at Whale Spars with meticulous care. The alloy spar has been painted honey brown, and the white dacron North sails maintain the traditional look in keeping with the varnished timberwork of the boat itself.
A furling headsail was added for convenience and the mainsheet horse was replaced with a traditional sheeting system led to winches in the cockpit, allowing the tiller to be lifted clear for more space when entertaining.
New mainsail sheeting system - Image Gerry Colley
When designing the new rig, particular care was taken to maintain the original helm balance of the boat. CARESS has a delightful neutral helm which gains a very small amount of weather helm as she heels, but the tiller remains light and sensitive. She does not tend to gripe or round up in gusts as do many modern boats, an attribute sought by Wally Ward in his quest for a nicely balanced boat.
It is pretty clear that with the newer lighter materials, improved efficiency and larger sail area she is destined to perform even better than the original.
I am pretty sure Wally would have been impressed by each of these improvements. It will be very interesting to experience how she sails over a wide range of conditions. Not only pretty and well finished but seaworthy and a sheer pleasure to sail in all conditions.
Ghosting in light air - Image Gerry Colley
Design Pedigree
The racing success of JANAWAY, CAMIRA and CARESS at Middle Harbour and Sydney Amateur sailing clubs led to Ron Swanson to ask Wally Ward to design a larger version, suitable to race offshore and in the Hobart race. This led to the design of CARMEN and shortly after, a modified version CADENCE and her sistership CALLIOPE were built for Jim Mason and Lal McDonald.
Along with her many sisterships, these boats were highly successful ocean racers. CADENCE winning the Sydney to Hobart race in 1966 and her owner Jim Mason also won all of the major offshore events during the season.
Very soon a whole series of boats were built by the Swanson Brothers for MHYC members including CALLIOPE & CARINYA. Castanet finished runner up to the famous Rainbow II in the 1969 Sydney-Hobart race was built by Lidgards in New Zealand.
Many sisterships to CADENCE were built, known affectionately as the “CA’s” by their owners, with names such as CARINYA, CARRONADE, CAROUSEL, CASSANDRA, CASTANET, CAREFREE, CARDINAL PUFF, CAROMA etc. Over 30 boats were built to this design and can be seen in harbours all over the world. Collectively they are also known as the ‘Carmen’ class.
The fully restored CARESS with proud owner Michael Paull at the helm - Image Gerry Colley
Motivation
Graham Nock owned and actively raced CARESS on Sydney harbour at the Royal Prince Edward Yacht Club for over 30 years. He just loved sailing this boat as she was so easy to handle in all conditions and was a perfect day sailing and racing boat.
As a keen crew member, racing with Graham for seven years, Michael Paull took the opportunity to purchase CARESS along with co-owners Julian Sexton and David Kenton had the passion to restore her to original condition, preserving her place in history, along with sistership CAMIRA as the first of the famous CA’s, and predecessor to the Carmen class and Hobart winner CADENCE.
Acknowledgements
Michael Paull, Julian Sexton & David Kenton – Caress co-owners
Simon Sadubin – Sydney Wooden Boats
John Denton – Whale Spars
Middle Harbour Yacht Club – Archives
NextGen – website
Megan Treharne
Ward Family Archive
Doug & Val Brooker
Gerry Colley - Images
Beth Morley – Images