The Winklebrig Forum

Hi, Advance Notice - WB 15 'Markie' will be up for sale on 17th June 2024. This is following a week when Markie will be day sailing from Windermere Marina 11-15 June, so an opportunity for you to sample her weather permitting.   Brief spec: 1 owner from new (June 1987), original sails including topsail, roller reefing, running forestay, Barton T track on transom rail, upgraded bowsprit, boom tent, all over towing cover, winter cover, 4hp Mercury 2 stroke, interior upholstery showing its age. Trailer upgraded with 1300kg suspension units and 13" wheels and tyres and breakback conversion. See videos on youtube.  Asking price £4500  Also available is the perfect towcar, a Subaru Outback SE NavPlus 2011 86000 miles, lpg conversion so cheap to run. Also £4500     If you are interested in buying please pm me.

If the sails are the originals off WB17, they were probably made by 'Performance Sails'. That is the case with Markie WB15

Hi,

The only WB called Drifter I can find any info on is WB71 built in 1992.  A WB of that age would have the raised coach roof.  The hull colour is marked as 'Stone' as are a good number of WBs of that age.

Bucklers Hard - great sailing around the Solent, Brixham - great sailing around Torbay.  But in between, rounding Portland Bill with the overfalls, no thank you.  We looked at doing it but decided it was a lot easier and safer trailering between the two areas.  Good slipways available at both ends.

Hi Jilly,

Hope this link takes you to a useful part of the forum.

http://www.winklebrig.org/smf/index.php?topic=14.0

Try using the 'Search' function for 'topsail', a lot of old posts pop up.

David C

Hi John,
WB87 was built in 1993 for a customer from Winchester.

WB 106 Cockle was built in 1996 for a customer living in Southampton and was originally called 'BABOT B'.

My list only goes up to WB108 of which only 7 are marked as day boats. So the day boat is quite a rare beast.

Hi Eoghan,
WB43 is showing up as a dayboat built in 1990 for a customer living in Burton-by-Tarporley, Cheshire.

Hi Gerard,
In the latter part of the last century, I set up The Winkle Brig Register as a section within The Trail Sail Association.  Eric very kindly sent me details of all his sales up to WB108 so I could contact every owner to encourage them to join the TSA. At one point we had about 30 WBs in the TSA with a handful turning up to the TSA spring and autumn cruises.  A fleet of sailing WBs is a lovely sight.

Hi Gerard
WB18 Sea Jade was built in 1988 and was bought by Mr P Dixon from Much Hadham, Hertfordshire

Looks like a good plan.  Yes removing that section will reveal the glassed in pins once the foam is removed.  If I remember correctly, the foam was just loose blocks packed in, so it should be an easy job to remove.

I hope I am allowed to make this post.  Former WB owners, Valerie and Neil McBroom have just published a book  recounting their sailing adventures over 50 years, including their time as owners of Brig O'Dale WB88.  We had memorable times together, attending the IFOS events from 1996 to 2005.

Hi Roger,
Very worrying photos of your bilge plates.  I have never seen any of the early grp plates with even a hint of delaminating.  The plates on Markie are 34 years old and are as good as new.  But Markie does spend most of her time on a trailer (unfortunately) in our back garden.  I do not know of the internal composition of the plates, I assumed they were just grp, but I suppose there could be a steel insert that has got rusty, swollen and 'blown' the grp.  Looks like a case of getting the plates out and taking to your local grp fabricator, or having plywood/steel shoe (or grp/stainless steel equivalent) plates as fitted to later WBs or aluminium plates made up.
The grp type plates are not designed to be easily removed, so to get the plates out, you will either have to access the bilge plate housings as per my method of cutting the interior moulding, so you can get at the glassed in pins, or somehow from underneath make a vertical slot up to the pivot pin, in the raised plates, like the later plywood/steel shoe type have.  That could be tricky if there is a steel insert. To remove the later type plates I believe you have to pivot the plates so they are vertical and can then be slid off the pins.
Good luck.

Hi Kevin,
Have a look at this topic http://www.winklebrig.org/smf/index.php?topic=15.0
The only modification I have since made is by attaching a collar to the drum to stop the furling line dropping off the drum and getting snagged around the forestay (photos hopefully attached). There is a gap of 1 inch in the collar to allow the furling line access to the drum.
Also look on youtube, search for  'winkle brig mast' and you will see a video of me lowering and raising the mast.  Having the running tackle at the top of the forestay rather than at the bottom makes it so so easy.