Lyle Hess and HEATHER BELLE

Lyle Hess

In 1926,the waterfront in Long Beach California, still offered leftover scraps and odd bits of junk from wartime shipbuilding—worthless stuff to anyone but a 12-year-old. Lyle Hess took a piece of sheet metal, about 14' long, and bent the ends up double, nailing them to short pieces of 2 x 4 which served as stem and sternpost.

"First thing I learned from that was flotation. We had to get tar out of some old barrels and seal up the ends."

He used a 1 x 6 plank thwart to keep the middle spread open.

"Second thing I learned about was stability. If I didn't put the 1 x 6 in there long enough, the little boat would keep turning over on me, and I'd get soaking wet."

This wasn't M.I.T. or an apprenticeship under the Burgesses or Herreshoffs, but it was an opportunity for learning and growth.

"I made every mistake in the book," says Lyle. "But I didn't make any of 'em twice."

The reason I started thinking of Lyle Hess is that I got a call this week from Andrew Wilson the builder and custodian of a boat I’ve admired for over 20 years.  Andrew has decided that due to his health it’s time to find a new home for HEATHER BELLE his diminutive Gaff Cutter.   

Lyle Hess is one of those designers who slips under the radar of many wooden boat aficionados, especially here in Australia. Those that followed the exploits of Lin and Larry Pardey would know of SERAFFYN and TALEISIN

(I once sailed a regatta on the Hauraki Gulf with Lin and Larry in a Chas Bailey yacht, and they bickered all the way round the course!)

It was publicity stemming from the Pardey's success with SERAFFYN, the 24-foot engineless cutter (the same design as HEATHER BELLE), that created so much interest in Hess' boats, following their debut sail from California to England in 1968.

Dreams sometimes overpower reality. Lyle Hess understood that, and he didn’t want one of his wooden boats to be the cause of unhappiness. "I warn people, 'Don't build a boat if it's beyond your means, or if it's going to cause family trouble.' If the person is married, he had better have the full cooperation of his spouse. And it takes skill, or you'd better have somebody with skill nearby. I've told some people to go buy a good used boat and be satisfied with that...." Others he has steered toward finishing off a glass hull. Those who did receive his plans got a stack of detailed drawings that would have made Lyle's early British mentors proud. And those clients who needed additional help as work progressed found Lyle readily accessible by phone or letter at no extra charge.

Lyle's concern for the well-being of his builders paralleled an equally strong concern that his boats be built right. He didn’t insist that they be fancy, though many have turned out that way. But he did want them built correctly.

"I insist on construction being done the way I want it done. I insist on it—that's written in my contracts. If a builder wants to change it, then he must get my permission. If something goes wrong, that's my responsibility. In my plans, I try to put things in so they can be built. Some architects design features that are very difficult to build, or impossible. They do so because they have never built a boat. When I draw a boat, I mentally build it. I know what the builder has to contend with, and I help him to the best of my ability. I'm not saying I'm the best designer in the world—hell, I don'' mean that. I just know how to build my boats, and that's what I put on m: plans. I draw all of the details basically at full size, so that the builder will have no doubt as to the scantlings and the way I want the boat to be built."

Though Lyle didn’t want anyone tinkering with his own designs, he encouraged young people to learn to draw boats for themselves. There is no mystery, he said, about the fundamentals of design.

"The design of a boat is the control of compromises. Of course, the first thing you want in a boat is to be able to survive at sea. A man should be able to get himself back home—he shouldn't be depending on the Coast Guard."

Lyle Hess died in July 2003 at the age of 90.

 HEATHER BELLE

Andrew Wilson’s sister ship to SERAFFYN is for sale and currently moored at Lindesfarne in Hobart. Contact Andrew on (03)98074156 for more information.

Bristol Channel Gaff Pilot Cutter
Designer: Lyle Hess
Builder: Andrew Wilson
Date Launched: 1990
LOA 24' 6'ft Beam 9' 3" Draft 4' 8"
Construction Timber caravel.
Nyatoh Planking,
Deck Ply underlay, laid Qld. Beech deck
Keel and Backbone yellow tallow wood
Lead keel 1.25 ton

MAST & RIGGING
All spars Oregon Pine
Standing rigging SS
Gaff Main
Topsail
Yard
Staysail
Jib/Genoa on Reefurl
Storm Jib

GROUND TACKLE
CQR w 100ft 8mm chain
Fisherman w 30ft Nylon Rope
Admiral Benbow Windlass

MACHINERY & TANKS
Engine Volvo-MD 7B 17HP Diesel
Propeller 3 blade Hydraline feathering
Speed Max. cruise 5.5K
Cruise Ltr/Hr 1.5PH approx.
RPM2000
Fuel Capacity 40litres in 1 Tank
Water Tanks Capacity45 litres

NAVIGATION EQUIPMENT
Raymarine VHF
Raytheon Auto-Helm and instruments.
VHF

PLENTY MORE!

by Andrew Wilson