Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Twister Yacht ‘Oliva’








I always fancied a Twister, but such a beauty was not mine to have.  When I started sailing on the River Crouch in 1973 I saw the lovely wooden twister, ‘Oliva’. She used to be kept on a Fambridge mooring.

Twisters were designed by Kim Holman, and the original, the all wooden ‘Twister of Mersea’ was launched in 1963. Her lines were very similar to the legendary clinker Stella, also designed by Kim Holman. Unlike the Stella, Kim designed her bigger sister with a carvel hull. Many of the early Twisters were built by Uphams of Brixham.

With the emergence of GRP in the early sixties, the first composite Twister with a fibreglass hull, wooden deck and coachroof was built in 1969. This paved the way for the all GRP Twister moulded by Tylers from the mid 70s until the late 90s when Tylers ceased trading. A good many of these fibreglass mouldings were fitted out and completed by amateur builders.

Links

Twister Class Association

Twisters for Sale (Eleven of them at the time of posting)

Stella Class Association

Twister (yacht)

Yachtsnet Archive – Twister

Sailboatdata.com – Twister 28

C. R. Holman and the Twister

Twister 28 Forum

Yachts Designed by Kim Holman

Tyler Boat Co. Ltd.

Apollo Duck Twisters for Sale

Twister 28 for Sale Video (2012)


3 comments:

Alden Smith said...

Kim Holman, one of the greats alongside Alan Buchanan, Laurent Giles, Arthur Robb, Maurice Griffiths (the list goes on and on!)

This Twister seems to have a doghouse - most of the Twisters I remember seeing in photographs didn't - but maybe I'm thinking only of the GRP Twisters built by Tylers and much advertised in the yachting press.

William Serjeant said...

Yes, I think you are right about the doghouse which would have been unusual for an early wooden Twister.

Unknown said...

The best boat. I've sailed brimble all over the place and she's never let me down.