Holman/ Whisstock's Rummer Class Bermudan Yawl 1958/2022

For over 60 years, Kim Holman’s Rummer Yawl Class design has quite rightly been held in high regard as a paragon of all-round near perfection in a handy-sized classic cruiser-racer, yet this was only his third design. Early racing success and excellent press reviews ensured not only the class’s success, but also the designer’s. This, the original RUMMER, beautifully built by Whisstock’s for Holman himself, has remained one of those yachts that catches the imagination. Apart from her fame, she’s a thoroughly practical, well behaved, short-handed cruiser-racer with a large, deep and safe cockpit, side decks you can walk up without feeling restricted, wide fore and aft decks, and spacious accommodation for a 35 ft classic. RUMMER has come through a major refit in very safe hands that has dealt with all the necessaries while preserving her authenticity. This is a rare opportunity to own a very special yacht.

RUMMER has been carefully maintained including regular engine servicing despite little use since 2016. In total RUMMER has only been sailed for 3-4 weeks in that time and has been on the hard standing for the last year in Southwold where she has been berthed. Before 2016, RUMMER was more regularly in commission cruising the south west coast of England and the Channel Islands from her home base of Dartmouth.

2021-2022 - HARBOUR MARINE SERVICES, SOUTHWOLD
- Major refit/ restoration under current ownership
- Invoices for all works available for inspection
- Total value of the works in excess of £100,000

EXTERIOR
- Hull wooded
- Re-caulking, and resplining as required
- Restoration/ strengthening of sheer strake
- Restoration of rudder
- New outboard stern tube bearing
- WC skin fittings replaced and new seacocks fitted
- Entirely new deck
- Restoration to the revealed exposed deck beams/ knees as required
- New stainless steel chain plates
- All exteriors stripped and re-painted/ re-varnished
- 75% Teak capping rail replaced
- New fastenings for stanchion feet
- New oak winch bases
- Deck cleats replaced with period pieces
- Mast has been rebuilt; spreaders replaced
- Spinnaker pole restored, stripped and repainted
- All deck, rig electrics replaced or restored
- Standing rigging has been replaced 2022

INTERIOR
- Deliberately left in its near original state (as Holman wanted it)
- Windows replaced
- Forward bulkhead replaced
- Other bulwarks stripped and repainted
- All rotten interior timber replaced and restored

OTHER UPGRADES IN CURRENT OWNERSHIP
- New exhaust outlet and new exhaust hose
- Bespoke fridge/cool box with element
- Modern gimballed cooker installed
- B&G navigation electronics and instruments installed
- Including AIS and onboard WIFI
- Inverter installed under chart table
- 240 V sockets in saloon
- Voltage monitor on chart table
- New mizzen and genoa
- New VHF relocated to companion way
- Carbon Monoxide alarm and detector
- Wood burning stainless steel heater in saloon
- Enclosed winter cockpit cover
- Standing room and removable steel structure

C.R. HOLMAN DESIGN NO. 3 - WHISSTOCK'S YARD NO. 408
After wartime experience as the youngest Commander of a Royal Navy minesweeper, a mid 1950s Atlantic circuit, racing Merlin Rocket and National 12 dinghies, and a sound yacht design grounding apprenticed to Jack Francis Jones, in his fledgling career as an independent naval architect, West Mersea-based Kim Holman was fortunate to have the wherewithal to develop his ideas to his own account. His future clients would enjoy the benefit of Holman's experience in designing, having built, and testing in depth his earliest designs, and similarly with the first built of his subsequent popular classes such as the Stella, Sterling, and Twister. His early designs were right in every department.

Holman's 27 ft sloop PHIALLE (Design no.1, 1957) which he sailed to the Baltic and back in her first season, the 38 ft ketch LANDFALL for Claude Whisstock (Design no. 2, 1958), and RUMMER (Design no. 3, 1958) were all built by Whisstock's, with LANDFALL and RUMMER spawning repeat commissions for around 17 boats (the Rummers built by various yards) - quite remarkable in a world still then dominated by bespoke design and build.

With her relatively shallow draft given stability by 'American' beam and a moderately hard bilge, RUMMER caught the eye particularly of east coast of England yachtsmen, offering greater accommodation volume than they'd been used to at this handy size - and a yacht that gained a reputation for being able to be driven comfortably hard.

Winning Yachting World magazine's 1957 Design Competition undoubtedly enhanced the future success of the RUMMER design, and the reputation of her then largely unknown designer, and it won't have gone unnoticed that in her first season Holman and RUMMER won Class III in the RORC's West Mersea to Ostend Race, and the North Sea Yacht Club Trophy for best overall corrected time for all classes. Not bad for a boat reputedly designed mainly with cruising in mind, but Holman had made absolutely sure she would rate well under the RORC rule.

At least eight (probably more, including derivatives) Rummers were built through the late 1950s and early 1960s by famous east coast yards, including Whisstock's Boatyard, Staniland of Thorne, H. King & Sons of Pin Mill - and at least one in the south west by Uphams of Brixham, managed by Kim Holman's brother Jack.

Legend has it that Holman continued those winning ways with RUMMER, but the truth is that by 1960 her owner was Essex landowner John Minter who would become a client by 1961 with the design commission for the 44 ft yawl BARLOVENTO, launched by Whisstocks in 1962 and in effect a stretched all ways RUMMER. With Minter, RUMMER continued to impress, in particular posting 3rd in class in 1961's stormy RORC Cowes-Dinard race. 44 yachts started in Class III; only 7 finished.

RUMMER moved to the south coast in 1962, firstly to Yarmouth, Isle of Wight with T.B. Goodwin, and in 1965 to Bosham with Sussex consultant surgeon Selwyn F. Taylor. Then in 1978 she returned east to Aldeburgh in the ownership of Michael J. Hopkins.

After the 1980 demise of Lloyd's Register of Yachts, ownership history becomes harder to trace, but it is known that RUMMER remained on the east coast of England through the 1990s and at least the first decade of the present century, well cared for by the Robertsons Boatyard, Woodbridge.

In current ownership RUMMER has cruised from a base at Dartmouth. In recent years she has enjoyed a major refit at Harbour Marine Services, Southwold, completed in 2022.

©2024 Iain McAllister/ Sandeman Yacht Company Ltd.

- Teak topsides planking
- Pitch pine & Larch underbody planking
- Mostly splined
- Iroko wood keel
- Oak stem, sternpost and horn timber
- Steamed oak timbers
- Copper fastened
- Full length bilge stringers
- Oak crook and galvanised steel floors
- Iron ballast keel 2.6 tons
- Iron keel bolts (2008)
- Substantial solid & laminated oak hanging knees fore &
aft of mast partners
- Strapping at mast partners
- Iroko rudder; stainless steel stock (2005)
- Bronze heel fitting and intermediate strap
- Fibreglass sheathed plywood deck (2022)

GENERAL
- Deck of marine plywood fibreglass sheathed (2022)
- Coachroof of marine plywood fibreglass sheathed
- All round toerail/ bulwark; raw teak cap rail
- Stainless steel stanchions and guard wires; stainless steel pulpit and pushpit
- All other deck structures all varnished teak

AFT DECK
- Chromed mooring fairleads at taffrail port and starboard
- Central bronze/ Tufnol roller tender towing fairlead
- Lifebuoy and outboard motor brackets at pushpit
- 2 x Chromed and teak mooring cleats
- Main and mizzen backstay chain plates

SELF DRAINING COCKPIT
Deep, and quite spacious - helped by there being no bridge deck
- Deep coamings with raw teak cockpit seating lower than deck level
- Raw teak cockpit sole slats over plywood base
- 2 x Flush hatches aft either side of mizzen mast
- Chromed mainsheet track and car with stoppers
- Bronze period mainsheet winch with 2 x associated cleats
- Hatches in seating aft port and starboard
- Laminated teak tiller; bronze stock fitting
- Engine throttle control
- Engine panel
- Period bronze headsail sheeting winches to port and starboard
- Associated cleat at coaming (as original)
- Double leaf companionway doors; 2 x brass vents
- Washboard system
- B & G plotter to port; repeaters above
- Provision for boom crutch

STEPPED TRUNK CABIN
- 2 x Large chrome framed windows in doghouse port and starboard
- 3 x Chrome framed ports in trunk cabin sides port and starboard
- Sliding companionway. In garage - original; unusual at the time
- Varnished grabrails to port and starboard
- 2 x Solar panels
- Dorade boxes with chromed mushroom vents to port and starboard
- Chocks for canister liferaft
- Mast position
- Chromed mushroom vents to port and starboard
- Stainless steel solid fuel heater flue fitting
- Forehatch with perspex panel neatly integrated to forward trunk cabin

SIDE DECKS
- Alloy headsail tracks and cars at rail port and starboard
- New stainless steel chainplates
- Bronze bottle screws

FOREDECK
- Simpson-Lawrence Hyspeed manual anchor windlass
- Chromed and teak mooring cleats port and starboard
- Oak Sampson post on fore deck with bronze and teak bar cleats either side
- Mooring fairleads port and starboard on rail
- Galvanised stemhead fitting
- Bronze and stainless steel rollers port and starboard of stemhead

GROUND TACKLE
- 35 lb CQR Bower anchor
- 35 lb CQR Kedge anchor
- 55 m Galvanised anchor chain
- Anchor warp

ONE STEP DOWN TO LOW LEVEL ENGINE BOX/ RAISED SOLE
- Berths for 6
- 6 ft 3 in / 1.9 m headroom in main cabin; 5 ft 11 in / 1.8 m forward
- White painted bulkheads and deck head, varnished teak sole and carpentry
- Green synthetic canvas cushion covers

GENEROUS QUARTER BERTHS/ SEATS TO PORT AND STARBOARD
- Stowage outboard and under
- Nav lights switching at port berth
- Engine cooling water strainer at starboard berth

GALLEY TO PORT
- Bespoke fridge/cool box with element
- Dometic Moonlight THREE gimballed cooker
- 3 x Hob burners
- Substantial fiddles and pan clips
- Oven and grill
- Stainless steel sink
- Brass water faucet and foot pump
- Engine coolant header tank

CHART TABLE TO STARBOARD
- Engine box/ raised sole is navigator seat
- Navigation and battery control displays
- Ships isolator panel
- VHF Radio
- Locker and bookshelf outboard proud of chart table
- Stowage below
- Royal Mariner ship's clock and barometer
- 12 V 'Cigarette lighter' socket

SALOON
- Settee berths port and starboard
- Stowage under and outboard
- Shelves outboard
- Supports and cushions convert berths to athwartships double berth
- Folding saloon table; can stow at port aft bulkhead
- Sideboards port and starboard forward over 'trotter boxes'
- Lockers outboard
- Dickinson Newport solid fuel heater port forward

FORECABIN
- Door entry
- WC to port
- Hanging locker to starboard
- Stowage bins to port and starboard
- Double berth over chain locker

RIG
- Bermudan yawl rig
- Believed original spruce keel-stepped mainmast and boom
- Single set of ash spreaders
- Stainless steel mast fittings (2005)
- 2 x Bronze halyard winches (2005)
- 2 x Boom reefing winches (2005)
- Spruce horntimber-stepped mizzen mast by Collars
- Jumper strut
- Spruce mizzen boom
- Spruce spinnaker pole
- Stainless steel standing rigging (2022)

SAILS
- Mainsail (Suffolk Sails 1995)
- Genoa (Dart Sails (new)
- Mizzen (Dart Sails (new)
- Mizzen staysail, old but good
- Asymmetric cruising chute
- Storm jib in day-glow orange sets on the inner fore stay (unused)
- Heavy main tri-sail (unused)
- Masthead fore stay Sailspar continuous line headsail furler
- Inner fore stay from upper spreaders to fore deck

CANVASWORK
- Enclosed winter cockpit cover
- Standing room and removable steel structure

MECHANICAL
- Westerbeke (Mitsubishi) 30B 3-cyl 27 hp diesel (2005)
- Low hours (hours TBC)
- Conventional drive train
- Stainless steel propeller shaft
- Bronze fixed 3-bladed propeller in aperture

ELECTRICAL
- 12 V DC System
- 2 x 12 v Batteries
- Victron voltage monitor at chart table
- Charging by:
- Engine alternator
- 2 x Photonic Universe solar panels on coachroof
- 240 V Battery charger
- 240 V Shore power system
- Hubbell shore power socket
- 240 V sockets in saloon
- Inverter installed under chart table

TANKAGE
- Flexible water tank below galley sole - c.150 L / 33 Gals
- Stainless steel fuel tank 2005 - c 50 L / 11 Gals

- Steering compass (TBC)
- B&G navigation electronics and instruments
- Furuno GPS-32
- Furuno NX-300 Naxtex
- Including AIS and onboard WIFI
- Silva hand bearing compass

COMMUNICATIONS
- Icom VHF Radio

OTHER
- Autohelm auto-pilot

- Canister liferaft - 6 persons
- Dry powder fire extinguisher at chart table
- Fire blanket at galley
- Carbon Monoxide alarm and detector
- Horseshoe lifebuoy with light
- Masthead tri-colour and deck level navigation lights

- Boom crutch
- Avon inflatable tender with oars
- Wooden tender
- Petrol outboard
- Mooring warps
- 8 x Fenders