Member Article

Keeping world renowned yachtsman on course

Express Engineering has kept round the world yachtsman David Scott Cowper (see notes at the end of the article) on course for more ocean going adventures by repairing his boat’s rudder.

The Team Valley based precision engineering operation deployed specialist inspection equipment – normally used to check the sub-sea valves it manufactures – to diagnose the defect which was throwing Polar Bound’s rudder out of alignment, putting a great strain on the gear box, rack and pinions as well as the helmsman or autopilot.

The rudder and shaft of the boat are designed to withstand 90 tonnes of pressure when pack ice squeezes the vessel so exact engineering is critical. Diagnostics revealed that one of the three bearings which support the structure was slightly out of true.

A dummy shaft was machined and fitted in order to determine the how far bearing was out and a new bearing was made and positioned off-centre, to create the correct alignment when assembled.

The operation was the result of a chance encounter between the six time solo circumnavigator and Nigel Davison, Chief Executive with the Express Group and himself a keen sailor.

After cruising the east coast of Greenland for two weeks without a single sighting of another vessel, Nigel and his two companions arrived at a lonely settlement to find the only mooring was taken by Polar Bound. Recognising the sturdy, powerful expedition motor vessel from Newcastle- upon-Tyne as that of the famous yachtsman, they made contact.

“When David found out that I was an engineer he explained the problem he was having with his rudder and started asking me questions about analysis and specialist materials,” said Nigel: “I said that we may be able to help him out when he got back to the UK.

“He took up the offer, transporting the quarter ton rudder from Scotland to Tyneside and we were able to carry out the diagnostics and delicate repair, which will hopefully ensure Polar Bound stays on course for many years to come.”

The next big test for the boat will be when the 72-year-old record breaking yachtsman attempts his seventh transit of the Northwest Passage next year - once again up into the High Arctic to attempt another untried route.

He said: “Finding an organisation which had the capability of undertaking such intricate adjustments would have been very time consuming – if not well-nigh impossible – as not many boat yards have equipment as specialised as Express Engineering and so I was very glad to take up Nigel’s kind offer.”

“Although the true test will come when I go to sea again, having reassembled the rudder for the first time, it turns with ease and smoothness and everything appears to be as it should be.”

Nigel Davison, an amateur sailor for 15 years, has been with Express Engineering for almost twice as long and has recently overseen a £10 million plus expansion programme which means the company now employs almost 500 in three locations - the Tyneside based oil and gas business, the aerospace and industrial division at Stokesley in North Yorkshire and in Brazil, where it owns and operates Petrotec.

The business has already been singled out as ‘one to watch’ in a league table of the country’s fastest growing firms. It is the North East’s only representative on a 10 strong list of operatives tipped to break into the ‘Sunday Times Fast Track 100’- the UK’s top 100 private businesses demonstrating the most rapid expansion.

Turnover grew by more than 250% over the past couple of years to just over £33 million and the increase in profit this generated saw Express rocket to eighth place in the ‘Sunday Times’ BDQ Profit Track 100 league table. This puts the company ahead of well- known national brands such as Jamie Oliver’s “Jamie’s Italian”; Biscuit Manufacturer Tunnocks and Pret a Manger.

Notes: David Scott Cowper was the first man to sail solo round the world in both directions. In 1980 he completed the fastest circumnavigation of the globe via Cape Horn, Cape of Good Hope and Cape Leeuwin in Ocean Bound, a 41ft. sloop, beating Sir Francis Chichester’s record of 226 days – completed in the 60ft Gypsy Moth - by one day.

Two years later he repeated the feat, sailing against the prevailing westerly winds and rounding all five capes in 237 days, beating Chay Blyth’s record by 72 days and becoming the first person to circumnavigate Cape Horn in both directions single handed.

He then switched to motorboats and in 1984-1985 sailed westerly round the globe in a converted ex-RNLI Watson 42ft. wooden lifeboat, the Mabel E Holland, becoming the first person to circumnavigate solo in a motor boat.

There then followed the first solo circumnavigation via the Northwest Passage, which took four years and two months, ending in 1990.

He has now completed six official Northwest Passages – four singlehanded and two with crew.

Polar Bound is 48ft overall, with an 18ft 6“ beam and draws 6ft. She is propelled by a single eight cylinder 8LBGardner Engine. Her hull is constructed of aluminium with four watertight bulkheads unbreached to the deck head. The engine room is double hulled and the forward hold is double bottomed. She is designed to be squeezed out of the ice with a rounded bottom and very flared topside. She can withstand 60 tonnes of pressure on every square metre of her hull with no support underneath the vessel. As soon as there is support beneath her, the loading can increase dramatically. She is 12 times stronger than Lloyds’ requirement and is regarded as the strongest surface ship for her size in the world.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Paul Dobbie .