Researching the yacht Kelpie, CJ Ross and John Fletcher

Please can you help Clare McComb with her research of the Starcross connection with the yacht Kelpie? Clare is writing a book about this graceful little craft, which still races today.

• Can you add to the known history of either CJ Ross who owned Kelpie during the time he was commodore of the Starcross Yacht Club. Ross owned Kelpie from c 1928 - 38.
•  or John Fletcher, who lived in Starcross and looked after Kelpie for CJ Ross

•  Does anyone have memories of the yacht Kelpie in Starcross? 1928 to 1938

• Does anyone have any photographs of Kelpie in Starcross? 1928 to 1938

 Kelpie was designed as a 57  foot gaff cutter, in 1903 by Alfred Mylne. She measures 38 feet at her water line, and so she raced with the 42 footers. When yacht sizes were re-hashed using metre measurements, she qualified to race in the 12 metre races. The photo below is on the British Classic Yacht website. Read about Kelpie here 

  Clare clarifies any confusion about her size: Kelpie's  length is 38 foot LWL ( water line) her LOA (overall length) is over 57 feet according to Lloyds register - these are different measurements for the same yacht!


Many lead yacht-keels were used in the World War 11 effort, but Kelpie survived intact.

Kelpie was once owned by CJ Ross, who was Commodore of Starcross Yacht Club. He was Commodore of Starcross yacht club  from its re-foundation in the early 1930s until the late 30s or maybe beyond. He died in summer 1942. He gave them a cup at the founding.

Here's a newspaper cutting about him, which seems to say that he lived in Starcross. Clare has since discovered that CJ Ross, - onetime Sheriff of Exeter lived in Dawlish.

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Kelpie was looked after by John Fletcher of Starcross. John Fletcher's grandfather was Parish Clerk at St Paul's

Kelpie would have been moored locally at around the same as The Swan of the Exe was moored off Starcross pier. Was she moored near The Swan? Today, many of the summer deepwater moorings in the Exe aren't used until the Exe bore has passed through in the Spring. Perhaps Kelpie was moored somewhere else? Exmouth or Teignmouth? Topsham?

Keplie has been restored in many yards, one of which was Nash and Holden, at Dartmouth