Lubbock, Capt. Basil (1876 - 1944)

<BODY BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" LINK="#FFCC99" ALINK="#FF9966" VLINK="#FF9966">  <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#CC3300" FACE="Arial" ><B>History & Homes of the Sunbeam One Design</B></FONT>     |   <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="History Homes of the Sunbeam One Design"><B>home</B></A></div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="14" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="14">        <A HREF="id89.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Lanyon, Mrs Claude"><IMG SRC="0430e0e0.png" border=0 width="14" height="14" ALT="previous" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></A>    <A HREF="id143.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mathey, P.F.G."><IMG SRC="0440e0e0.png" border=0 width="14" height="14" ALT="next" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></A>        <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="14" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="14"></div> <div> <IMG SRC="04658020.png" border=0 width="600" height="2" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Lubbock, Capt. Basil (1876 - 1944)</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >For a synopsis of Lubbock's publications, visit </FONT><A HREF="http://pc-78-120.udac.se:8001/WWW/Nautica/Bibliography/Lubbock,_AB.html" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://pc-78-120.udac.se:8001/WWW/Nautic">Alfred Basil Lubbock (1876-1944),a Bibliography</A> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" > by</FONT> <A HREF="mailto:Lars.Bruzelius@udac.se " TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:Lars.Bruzelius@udac.se ">Lars.Bruzelius</A></div> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >(Lars created and manages the</FONT> <A HREF="http://pc-78-120.udac.se:8001/WWW/Nautica/Nautica.html" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://pc-78-120.udac.se:8001/WWW/Nautic">Maritime History Virtual Archives</A> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >)</FONT></div> <div> <I>"When using the word "mile" I always mean the sea mile of 6080 feet, not the land mile of 5280 feet"</I></div> <div> [Basil Lubbock, Preface to <I>The Colonial Clippers</I>, James Brown & Son (2nd edion, 1921)]</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>1922</B></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <A HREF="id152_1922___oct__9th_f_g_t__dawson_f_w__leith_and_basil_lubbock_meeting.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Solent Sunbeam History 1922">Minutes of a meeting of</A><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="id152_1922___oct__9th_f_g_t__dawson_f_w__leith_and_basil_lubbock_meeting.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Solent Sunbeam History 1922"> the new Hamble OD Class </A></FONT> [Solent Sunbems]</div> <div> held at Ferryside Cottage, Hamble, on</div> <div> October 9, 1922</div> <div> Present;  F.G.T. Dawson, F.W. Leith and Basil Lubbock</div> <div> ---------------------</div> <bR> <div> <B>1923</B></div> <div> To the Editor, <I>Yachting Monthly</I> -<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" >The Solent  " Y " Class</FONT></div> <div> Sir,  - I enclose the sail plan and specification of a new One-Design class, which is being built for Solent racing by Messrs. Woodnutt, of St. Helens.</div> <bR> <div> It is to be called the Solent " Y " Class - all names in the class to end in Y.</div> <bR> <div> The home port of the class will be Hamble, though it is hoped that other racing centres will build to the class, which is designed to race regularly in all Solent fixtures.  The boats should be fast and a pleasure to sail.  One paid hand is allowed; in the first season the boats will be rigged as the enclosed plan, but owners are to be allowed to do what they like with their 300 feet of sail area, <U>as in the Redwing Class</U>.</div> <bR> <div> At present three boats are being built, and it is hoped that other orders will shortly be placed.</div> <bR> <div> If any of your readers should wish to enter the class, they have only to write to me and I shall be delighted to give them all necessary information.</div> <bR> <div> I am, yours faithfully, <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" >BASIL LUBBOCK</FONT></div> <div> <I>Captain of Solent Y Class, Hamble.</I></div> <div> [qf.<I> Yachting Monthly,</I> number 201,  p.186, <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" >January 1923</FONT>.]</div> <div> [The Lines, sail plan and specification, expected to be in the February issue, are not in my bound copies of <I>Yachting Monthly</I>]</div> <bR> <div> The above letter was written after the summer during which Lubbock had recognised the interest in the new class of <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" >Mermaids</FONT>,  specifically  when the first ten of those new One Designs competed at Cowes Week, in 1922.  </div> <bR> <div> He was then captain of the <U>Hamble River One Design Class</U>, which, after several successful seasons was dying a natural death.  It was to the owners of this class that the <U>Mermaids</U> especially appealed.  Gaining the support of two other H.R.O.D. owners, ideas were sifted, and, in the autumn of 1922, <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Alfred Westmacott M.I.N.A. (Designer) W">Mr. Westmacott</A></FONT> was approached to build an improved Mermaid.  </div> <bR> <div> <B>1922 - 1930</B>     Capt. Basil Lubbock, M.C., was the Solent Sunbeam Class Captain.</div> <bR> <div> See <A HREF="id147_1925___ym_letter_from_basil_lubbock___the_solent_classes.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Yachting Monthly">his letter to </A><A HREF="id147_1925___ym_letter_from_basil_lubbock___the_solent_classes.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Yachting Monthly"><I>Yachting Monthly</I></A>, published in May 1925... " <I>I have looked up my racing log in order to see how often I shirked a ducking. I find that </I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" ><I>i</I><I>n </I><I>1923 I started 46 times*, 14 of them reefed</I></FONT><I>, and that on three different occasions I was out on the Solent, coming home from racing, when a wind of gale force was recorded at Calshot.  During</I><I> </I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" ><I>last season [1924] I also started 46 times*</I></FONT><I>, and I think we had a still greater number of duckings. </I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" ><I>From 1920 to 1924, I see that I sailed 220 races in the Solent, and not one of these was a sail over.</I>"</FONT></div> <bR> <bR> </BODY>