In addition to building complete boats and doing fit-outs, Stebbings specialised in making hollow spars for racing yachts.
The photo on the left is from August 1930 and shows a 90ft hollow spar being transported by B.M. Harris, haulage contractor, of North Fambridge. There’s a suggestion from the finger post in the right of frame that this photo was taken somewhere in or near Maldon, which would be quite a piece of driving. Someone, somewhere may recognise the distinctive houses and be able to pinpoint the location more accurately.
The other photo is of the Stebbings spar shed. Hollow spars were built up from sections made by gluing and clamping together timbers to form a rough square tube. The individual sections would then be scarfed together and the completed box section planed by hand to the desired profile. The 93′ shed was built on the Chapel Road site to accommodate the 91′ foot masts of the 12-metre class yachts. One example was made for Modesty, a 12-metre built by William Fife for Sir Richard Fairey, the aviation pioneer. Another 12-metre by William Fife, Vanity, also had a mast from Stebbings.
Stebbings Archive 