While enjoying a couple of days tied up in Fox’s Marina at Bourne Bridge just below Ipswich, I spotted an ‘old America’s Cup yacht parked up among some other craft being worked on by their owners.

As I wandered the extensive down river end of Fox’s lay-up facilities, I came across two further America’s Cup yachts – a veritable fleet, I thought, jesting with myself. The other vessels were seemingly of a later design and both had wing type keels.

This last yacht I had spotted as we entered the marina earlier in the day: she is currently parked in the upriver outer corner overlooking the creek – Ostrich Creek, the place where Maurice Griffiths moored his first yacht, jointly owned with a couple of chums.

It struck me that the designs of these keels had filtered down into the less rarefied world of the boats built for the ‘common’ sailor…

One thing I spotted that all vessels shared was a section of trailing edge to the keel ‘stubs’ in way of the rudder. The area seemed to be composed of a ‘loose’ flap which seemed to act as a stream lining where the rudder exited the boat’s hull. It clearly was designed to ‘fail’ and be repaired for the next sail… This is just a guess!

What the names of the boats are or anything of their history I do not know, but I found them fascinating..

As I walked back to Whimbrel, I mused about an America’s Cup Match between proper yachts rather than the high tech super fast whiz bang wallop of those ‘yachts’ seen in the recent America’s Cup races in New Zealand.

Outside the harbour, what a spectacle, I thought, chuckling mischievously!

Well, why not…