History

the use of brass nails for deck fixing & over what period?.

Fiddlesticks was a boat Jack Holt designed and built for himself in 1956 his yard in on the Embankment at Putney (now an architects office). The Year Book suggests that she's a 'Prelude' but the boat Prelude is no. 724 so it's more likely she's a one off but similar to the general line Jack was following at the time.

Jack finished 5th in Fiddlesticks in his last championship in 1956.

Jack Holt lent Fiddlesticks to my brother John and me for the 1957 Champs at Torquay. We used her normal round wooden mast but Jack also brought along a 5" slab mast which was supposed to rotate. We didn't have the nerve to use it, perhaps we should have done because we didn't do very well.

The 5" slab mast referred to above had 3 sets of diamond wires to support the mast sideways.