Boats, Boffins and Bowlines: The Stories of Sailing Inventors and Innovations

by George Drower, Ben Ainslie (Foreword by)

Which woman made the first solo transatlantic crossing? Who saved thousands of lives with the invention of navigation lights? What is the story behind the invention of the compass? Who was Francis Beaufort and how did he come to devise the Beaufort wind scale, still used to this day? Why did William Petty invent the catamaran (in 1662)? Many of us know the story of modern sailing pioneers - Dame Ellen MacArthur and Francis Chichester, Claire Francis and the challengers of the Americas Cup - but what about those unsung heroes who invented the mechanisms and technology which enabled sailors to speed across the oceans and navigate more safely This fascinating book reveals the extraordinary stories behind the apparatus which many take for granted. Learn how the Frenchman Boulanger produced the first binoculars in 1859, enabling sailors to spy landmarks more effectively; or how William Armstrong earned sailors' gratitude by devising the yacht winch. From cloud classification and screw propellers to radio telephones and the measurement of tides, from the sextant to the first fibreglass boat, this collection of stories, with a foreword by Ben Ainslie, Olympic gold medal winner, will inspire and intrigue sailors everywhere.

242 pages, Hardcover

First published July 25, 2005

Reviews

[Timothy Grubbs]

A rather interesting collection of various sailing devices and their history in the 19th and 20th centuries…

Boats, Boffins and Bowlines: The Stories of Sailing Inventors and Innovations by George M. F. Drower is organized anthology of notable captains, devices, and sailing innovations during the main age of sail throughout the 19th to early 20th century.

I’m not much of a sailor myself, but I can appreciate the historical research that went into this book.

Organized from notable trailblazer sea captains to navigation devices to sailing devices to even items useful in an emergency, the author collects many interesting anecdotes and also partners some with tables to old and recent nautical incidents that represent both why some of these devices were first developed but why their modern decadents are still necessary.

Many of the chapters also include useful illustrations from advertising materials to the original patent applications to simple design work.

I can’t speak for how common some of these inventions might have been (and in fact some seem unlikely to have ever been mass produced and may have only existed in a design form), but it shows a remarkable ingenuity and creativity that the mariners of old once had…and many of the modern day still do.

[Wouter]

The history of sailing in 50 inventors and innovations relies heavily on the Anglo-Saxon world. It overlooked some other, earlier inventions done by the Scandinavian countries with regard to navigational instruments during the Viking period, inventions in the Middle East and even some more clearly defined in time, such as the first submersible designed and built in 1620 by Cornelis Drebbel, a Dutchman, Jonas Lidström, the inventor of ship docks, compasses etc. All in all, interesting, but quite superficial and one-sided.

[Emil]

entertaining anecdotes

[Gusto]

Not interesting, I didn't finish it.

[Mr. Wakiki]

This was a fun boat to learn about history of sailing.