Notes written by John Palmer (1920 – 2003)

My father purchased Nomad at Surbiton (on the Thames) in 1936 as a present for me. Most unfortunately I caught Scarlet Fever before seeing her and was unable to sail her until 1937, having taken her to Bourne End where we kept her until 1945. We raced occasionally and soon realised what a fine boat she was.

After the War when my wife and I were living is Shaldon we sailed her and raced quite often. I remember well racing to Exmouth and back but had to retire when the conditions became too rough for Nomad.

One day I thought it would be interesting to show her to F C Morgan Giles. When he saw her he appeared spellbound for some minutes before exclaiming ‘I built that boat in Hammersmith in 1908 but someone has added decking which is a great pity’.

After a while we sold her to someone in Shaldon who after a couple of years sold her back to us. We sailed her a few times in 1965 but by then the decking had been removed and there were problems with the hull flexing in anything but a light breeze.

After 1965 she was kept in storage until 1978 when Captain Neville Upham, who I met on the train to London, told me the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich would be interested in her and we delivered her there in April 1978.

Nomad was extensively restored by the National Maritime Museum and is now stored by them in Falmouth.

Information courtesy of David Palmer