Victoria Shadow Association Members' Forum

Brian_Stewart

Member

Registered: 2024-09-14

Posts: 1

Frances 26 : True Glory

True Glory is a Frances 26 cutter. She has a stubby bowsprit, hank-on (tan) foresails, an astrodome in the main hatch, a Taylor's paraffin stove, a Volvo 10hp diesel. She is berthed in the marina of The Humber Cruising Association at Grimsby.

Like a lot of people, we came to sailing quite late in life, in our mid-fifties. In spite of our astonishing level of ignorance then, we identified the Frances 26 as the boat of choice, and scoured the country till we found the right one, in Mylor. This was 1997. True Glory was then ten years old, but more or less ’as new’, having been little used.

The Humber estuary isn’t the ideal nursery for beginners, but nevertheless we set about teaching ourselves the rudiments and soon took off : cruising the North Sea coast at first, then round the UK and beyond. Now, almost thirty years on, we have both achieved octogenarian status, and True Glory badly needs a younger, more active, more resilient crew. We have reluctantly made the tough decision to face the facts and hand her on.

Soon . . . but not quite yet.

Last edited by Brian_Stewart (2024-09-23 15:56:18)