Valère is a master sailmaker in Calais. However, he does not have a personal sailboat to enjoy on weekends. In 2020, he took the step of buying a Jaguar 22 in its original condition. Based in Graveline, this sailboat runs aground in the mud at each tide. This port has no means of lifting and Valère buys his sailboat without seeing the live works.
A trial run
He'll just do a quick check on the rigging and sails before taking her back out to sea in Calais, about 15 miles further south. " We chose our weather with good weather and a nice sea to not take any risk ", explains the new owner. "E n addition, the outboard motor, a Johnson 4.5 hp, was in good condition. It's always reassuring if something goes wrong Arriving in Calais safely, he can take the sailboat out of the water to discover the underside: "It wasn't really clean, we even saw eels falling out of the daggerboard well! ".
No osmosis despite living in water
But after a good cleaning, the surprise is quite good: " I was afraid to discover osmosis on this 1979 hull, but nothing. Not a blister! ". He therefore began the renovation work by sanding the entire hull and the pivoting keel. He paints all the coats with a paint roller. And above all, he sands with fine grain between each coat. The 2 coats of navy blue finish are a single-component paint. The result is clean, enhanced by a white sticker border and a sticker designed by Valère in the shape of a Jaguar at the front. The pivoting keel does not need to be removed. Valère still checks the winch that ensures the reassembly of the keel.
A "faux teak" deck with curved slats
For the deck, Valère chose not to paint it. After a thorough cleaning, he glued a fake EVA teak over it. After buying a small piece to test, he is favorably surprised by the product: " It has a nice feel, good underfoot feel and is well non-slip. Especially I realize that it ages well after the season spent in full sun. "For the look, he assembles it batten by batten to make them follow the curvature of the hull (after re-cutting the original delivered plates to 2.50 x 0.90 m).
Recovering to limit costs
The original interior fittings are in good condition. He does not plan to intervene on it, as he uses the boat for day trips. Maybe in a second time. For the moment, it's the sails that he would like to take some time to work on. Indeed, this Jaguar has for the moment an original wardrobe. He would like to make a new set of sails for her, but as he says: " It's always the shoemaker who is the worst shod. I'll have to make time for that. I picked up a furler and genoa from a 31 foot Kevlar Carbon sailboat with a damaged leech. I'd like to trim a genoa for the Jaguar in it. "
He also had to dismast the boat to overhaul the masthead where the anchor light no longer lit up and the few electronics on board were no longer responding.
Beware of speedboat theft in Calais
Today Valère is happy with his sailboat which corresponds to his expectations: " I didn't want a big boat. First of all, I didn't want it to cost me too much. I bought Angelo 1500 euros and I invested about 1000 euros in its restoration, mainly painting. The only drawback was the theft of my outboard engine. In Calais we are prone to these thefts, these engines are of interest to migrants. For my Johnson, they didn't hesitate to cut a motorcycle U-lock and even cut my backstay which was in their way. I found a Honda 6.5 hp as a replacement, but it is too heavy. In fact, now I unload the engine after every ride to avoid theft. So I'm going to look for a lighter engine. A 4.5 hp is more than enough for this type of boat. "
