Collective Spirit – a boat afloat with memories

When a boat made up of over 1,200 wooden items donated by the people of the South East, stopped off at The Stade in Hastings last weekend I dropped by to take a look.  One of 12 artistic commissions across the UK to celebrate the London Olympics ‘Collective Spirit’ has to be one of the most unusual and, I thought, surprisingly beautiful creations.

The artists who conceived the idea, Gary Winters and Gregg Whelan, known as Lone Twin, visited 20 locations across the region in a quest for donations for use in the building of the vessel.  Members of the public were also invited to bring wooden pieces to the West Sussex boatyard where the boat underwent construction.  However, there were conditions; the item must be significant to the owner and have a story behind it.  Each and every fascinating back-story was digitally recorded and the treasured item photographed with its donor before a thin cross-section was incorporated into the hull.

Collective Spirit, Olympic Boat

Donations included wood from Brighton’s West Pier and The Tudor ship The Mary Rose, a slither of wood from a Jimi Hendrix guitar, a Victorian policeman’s truncheon and a plank from the 2012 velodrome. The mast was donated by Hasting’s fishermen.

More personal and treasured everyday items such as hockey sticks,  a tennis racquet,  a clothes peg and hairbrush have all been beautifully incorporated into the boat.  The hull is fascinating to look at not only for the wooden objects themselves but for  the beauty, diversity and colour of the wood and grain.

The 30ft yacht is able to reach speeds of up to 20 knots. It visited Portsmouth, Margate, Brighton and Hastings on it’s voyage along the South Coast. It completed it’s journey at the Olympic sailing venue in Weymouth, Dorset, in time for the games in August 2012.

Read more about this fascinating boat at  The Boat Project.

Suzanne Jones

Suzanne Jones is a full-time travel blogger and writer at The Travelbunny website which she started in 2011 during her time as a professional travel planner.  This serial traveller enjoys exploring new destinations, culinary encounters and the outdoors. When she’s not indulging her wanderlust or writing about her adventures you’ll most likely find Suzanne, camera in hand, enjoying coastal walks on England’s South Coast.

Suzanne also runs Hello Sussex a website which showcases the best of East & West Sussex. Read more about Suzanne here…