Dear Editor,

I read with interest the article in the Summer Edition by Graham Wadeson on his experience with a Yorkshire Coble. Whilst not wishing to start a discussion in these pages on their merits, I think it is important to point out to any member who may be considering buying a true English (as opposed to Scottish) Coble, with a view to fitting one out for cruising, that they are known to be unsafe when running.

To quote from the National Maritime Museum, Monograph No. 30, "The English Coble" - page 17:

"She was fast with the wind just abaft the beam, but dangerous when it was right aft, when the deep forefoot might gripe, causing the Coble to broach broadside on, and capsize without warning.”

I personally find this surprising for a craft which is known to have been in precisely its present form for 170 years, and whose history is certainly much, much older than that.

I can only conclude that:

a) the Coble was in the hands of superb seamen (of course!)

b) the ability to launch and, more importantly to beach again safely under almost any conditions overrode all other considerations - and this is what the deep, hollow forefoot, in combination with other design factors, enabled them to do. George Ellis