Category Archives: Captains

Return to the Hebrides

Posted on September 14, 2014 by Peggy Bawn Press

Hard to believe it’s over a year since we last met the long lived G.L. Watson-designed west highlands and islands of Scotland cargo vessel S.S. Hebrides (1898). And incomprehensible that we’ve been watching the “Ealing Comedy” The Maggie (USA: High … Continue reading →

Posted in Captains, film, G.L. Watson, G.L. Watson & Co., gift, Glasgow, humour, River Clyde | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Wind of fortune

Posted on June 27, 2014 by Peggy Bawn Press

  Snippets of news slipping out online more than strongly suggest that one of the most exciting of classic yacht replica projects is well underway: a reincarnation of G.L. Watson’s design for the fabulous and fast schooner Rainbow, later Hamburg, … Continue reading →

Posted in archives, Baltic Germany, Big Class, boatbuilders, boatyards, Captains, Clyde yachting, Clydebuilt, film, Firth of Clyde, G.L. Watson, G.L. Watson & Co., G.L. Watson & Co. Ltd., G.L. Watson clients, gift, Glasgow, leather-bound, Martin Black, naval architect, object of desire, other yacht designers, photography, replica, River Clyde, sailmakers, shipbuilding, shipyards, yacht design, yacht designer, yacht racing, yachting history | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Scotia’s “Thistle”

Posted on April 19, 2014 by Peggy Bawn Press

Inevitably, a 127 year-old challenge from Glasgow, Scotland to New York, USA for yachting’s Holy Grail, the America’s Cup, has left lingering family memories and mementoes. It was a big deal, as it would be now, and is still within … Continue reading →

Posted in America's Cup, archives, Baltic Germany, Big Class, book, Captains, Clyde yachting, Clydebuilt, G.L. Watson, G.L. Watson clients, gift, Glasgow, Martin Black, object of desire, photography, yacht design, yacht designer, yacht racing, yachting history | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Order of the Thistle

Posted on March 23, 2014 by Peggy Bawn Press

It continues to be the America’s Cup silly season: the void between the last, enthralling episode, and the next; wherever it may be; in whatever boats… And crew nationality has raised its head. Last year’s ‘American’ defender, Oracle Team USA, … Continue reading →

Posted in America's Cup, Big Class, book, Captains, Clyde yachting, Clydebuilt, Firth of Clyde, G.L. Watson, G.L. Watson & Co., Glasgow, naval architect, object of desire, shipbuilding, Steam Yacht, yacht clubs, yacht design, yacht designer, yacht racing, yachting history | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

A new Watson for the weekend – No. 274

Posted on March 2, 2014 by Peggy Bawn Press

Is this the first yacht built to a design by Glasgow-based naval architect to the world, G.L. Watson, since his untimely death in 1904 at the age of 53?* In the past week, during a yard movement in Brittany, we were … Continue reading →

Posted in boatbuilders, boatyards, Britannia, Captains, Clyde yachting, Firth of Clyde, G.L. Watson, G.L. Watson & Co., G.L. Watson & Co. Ltd., G.L. Watson clients, Irish yachting, naval architect, object of desire, The Weekend Watson, yacht design, yacht racing, yachting history | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Those Magnificent Men…

Posted on August 30, 2013 by Peggy Bawn Press

What’s the definition of a superyacht? And a megayacht? If a yacht has the capability to be the base for a flying machine – to launch, recover and service it – that’s pretty super; even mega. It certainly would have … Continue reading →

Posted in Captains, Clydebuilt, G.L. Watson, Glasgow, Martin Black, photography, River Clyde, shipyards, Steam Yacht, yacht design | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Green Launch 3

Posted on April 10, 2013 by Peggy Bawn Press

After a public vote, the world’s second hybrid ferry – to be launched in May at Ferguson Shipbuilders, Port Glasgow – will be called Lochinvar, from Walter Scott’s 1808 poem Marmion, and following the “Scottish Literature Class” theme of her … Continue reading →

Posted in Captains, Clydebuilt, film, G.L. Watson, Martin Black, object of desire, shipyards | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

More “Big Class” on Film, 1899

Posted on January 3, 2013 by Peggy Bawn Press

Evidence of libraries and archives increasingly digitising their collections, and therefore making them more accessible, was unfolding before our eyes during the research for Martin Black’s book G.L. Watson – The Art and Science of Yacht Design. The Library of … Continue reading →

Posted in America's Cup, art, Big Class, Captains, film, G.L. Watson, G.L. Watson clients, Irish yachting, tank testing | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

December Storms

Posted on December 18, 2012 by Peggy Bawn Press

Had G.L. Watson been asked how he wished to be remembered by future generations, there is no doubt how he would have answered: “For my lifeboats.”  (Martin Black, G.L. Watson – The Art and Science of Yacht Design). The student … Continue reading →

Posted in America's Cup, art, Captains, G.L. Watson, G.L. Watson & Co., gift, Lifeboat, object of desire, RNLI | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment