AR Men
10 tons racing yacht
Talma Bertrand design - 1907
1907 Coupe de France winner
1/10 scale RC sailing model
The last leg: Armen about to cross the finish line
Kiel, 1907
Photo from private collection, all rights reserved
Introduction:
I bought Ar Men's plans a few year ago, just because she looked so good, and put them away until I had enough time to do something with them. From time to time I used to pull them out and dream about Ar Men, a superb fin-keeled racer, typical of the golden age of the gaff riggers. I was not sure what scale to use, how complex the building would be, so I just kept putting them back into the drawer. During the summer of 2009, with my full size 5M IR still under restoration, and my 1928 12sq.m "Bel-Ami" gone back home to Le Havre, I had not full size boat to sail. So I pulled out the plans again, and started to build a 1/10 scale sailing model of Ar Men. During the restoration of "Bel Ami"'s deck, I had kept the two original side planks, and they became the material for Ar Men's planking.
Ar Men: a short story
The story starts in 1906. That year, the German racer Felca, designed by Max Oertz, won the "Coupe de France". The cup was open to 10-tonneaux rating yachts from all countries, and was mostly contended by yachts from England, France, Germany and Italy. Much like the America's Cup tradition, the winning yacht would take the cup back home, and the following year's cup races would be held in the winner's home waters. So in 1907, the cup was to take place in Kiel, Germany, with Felca as the defender.
After their defeat in 1906, French yachtsmen started to mobilize to win the cup back home. Brittany, a celtic province at the Western tip of France, already renowned for its sailors and seamen, became the home base for one of the three French syndicates. Maurice de Laubrière, co-founder of the Brittany Races Comittee, and board member of the Yacht Club de France, set up a "Breton Comittee for the Coupe de France", tasked with funding the building of a French challenger, and organizing its participation in the next Coupe de France. James de Kerjégu, the very wealthy owner of the newly built château de Trévarez, (still renowned for its gorgeous gardens), agreed to chair the comittee, and they picked Talma Bertrand as the architect for the Breton 10-Tonner cup challenger. The boat was to be named Ar Men, after a famous landmark reef at the Western tip of France.
The Luce et Houllier boatyard in Le Havre was choosen to build the boat. The main dimensions of Ar Men were 16.46 mètres L.O.D, 11.07 LWL, 186.75 m² sail area, 5.5 metric tons lead ballast, 10 metric tons displacement.
Ar Men's description - Le Yacht 1907
The German defender Felca, who had won in 1906 against the French boat Rose France in Le Havre, was very close in its dimensions. (Plans of the two boats can be found in "Le Yacht" magazine's 1907 collection). News! Jean Claude Sermeus from Belgium has started to build a 1/10 scale Felca. Felca and Armen will race again in July 2012 during the Douarnenez sails festival.
Sailplans of Felca and Ar Men
Ar Men's crew was made of 7 sailors, most of them from a small harbour in Brittany called Dourduff. They were Jean and Vincent Feat, Jean Beuzit, Alain Abraham, Ernest le Fébure, François Gouzien et René Riou, the last two from l'Ile-Tudy, also in Brittany. Jean Féat, who was the King od Spain's favorite skipper, was is charge. Maurice de Laubrière was the godfather of Ar Men, and the Marquess of La Ferronays was the godmother. (Personal note: not a game for us commoners, most of the players except from the poaid crew were Breton nobility...)
During the selections races Ar Men won handily over the two other French challengers, and went on to continue training in le Havre, then in Kiel, the actual cup scene.
The "Coupe de France" took place on 22 and 24 june 1907, in two separate races off Kiel. Ar Men won both races, beating the German boat Felca by over 5 and 11 minutes respectively, with Kaiser Whillelm 2d in attendance.
The sponsors of the Breton syndicate received various gifts and medals displaying Ar Men's racing flag, half blue and half red, with a black ermine, Brittany's heraldic animal.
Ar Men's victory had a big impact on France's public opinion, in a political context when such an event went beyond the sports arena.
Building Ar Men's model (Partly translated from French...):
First step, finding a copy of the plan. An easy task, since the French magazine MRB sells a 1/20 scale plan of ArMen, no 466 from their online catalogue of plans, I also found an extensive coverage of ArMen's challenge in the period magazine "Le yacht", including some details not found in the MRB plan. Among them, the fact that Armen's deck was made from two layers of 7mm pine covered with canvas. Though typical of racing yachts construction well into the 20th century, such decks are rarely reproduced by model makers, who favour intricate deck planking mimicking the teak decks now common on luxury yachts.
Since Armen's hull design is the hallmark of Talma Bertrand's work, there's no way I will modify it to supposedly enhance the model's sailing abilities. No increased draft, no added volume or beam. A 1/10 scale will result in a faithful model boat yacht that should behave well under sail, with a ballast of approximately 7 kg for a target displacement of around 11 kg. Length on deck with be 165 cm, about 65".
The boat was built on a mould. For planking I used some very fine Honduras mahogany removed from the original deck of my small racing yacht Bel Ami, built in 1928, during the restauration back 20 years ago. Since I just gave away Bel Ami, it's nice to have some actual wood from my very first classic yacht sailing again as ArMen. The frames are steam bent locust, from a nearby wooden boatbuilder. For the spars I have used use Sitka spruce or Douglas fir, hollowed where feasible.
The gig is in place with the backbone. The stringers will receive the steam bent frames and be removed as the planking will progress.
The first strake, 4mm thick teak. .
The planking has gone well. I will soon try and remove the hull from the gig, it's easier to scribe the last strakes from the inside.
Free!Still missing a couple of strakes near the garboard.
The completed hull, two coats of varnish on the topsides, one can see the beauty of the wood coming from Bel Ami.
Bel Ami, 1928, sailing in Douarnenez bay, 1996 The hull has retained
its original planking. The deck was made from the same wood, and the deck planks removed during the restoration
were used for Armen's planking. .
Agonizing question: since Armen was painted white, should I paint my model, or keep the varnished topsides?
Fast forward: the first "sea trials", in my goldfish pond. The lead ballast weighs 7,1 kg, I have added weights inside to get the right trim. At around 10,2 kg total displacement the model seem to float about right.
Next steps: as of now, late 2011, the spars and hardware are ready, I think I have the sheeting system nailed. The deck is in place, and work on installing the hardware and fittings will start soon.
EMail: patrickATclassicmodelyachts.com
Pictures and text Copyright Patrick Bigand
Strictly no unauthorized use or reproduction