CLASSIC SUMMER 2012 SUPERYACHT From Oldest In association with CSY02 Superyacht Cover F .indd 1 29/05/2012 17:31 RANGER - 42 metre J Class Available for sale through Edmiston EDMISTON - WORLD LEADERS IN YACHTING LONDON: +44 (0)20 7495 5151 MONTE CARLO: +377 93 30 54 44 NEW YORK: +1 212 792 5370 www.edmiston.com SUPER YACHT SALES I CHARTER I MANAGEMENT I NEW CONSTRUCTION IssuE n0 2 COntEnts 5 Foreword 6 rise of the classic yacht scene 16 Eilean returns to antigua 6 22 angelo Bonati saves a wreck 24 World’s oldest 24 steam yacht 30 new spirit rising 30 Cover photo: Eliean by tim Wright FrOM Dan HOustOn, EDItOr CLASSIC SUPERYACHT What’s in a name? www.classicboat.co.uk Liscartan House 127-131 Sloane Street, London SW1X 9AS The question, ‘what makes a classic boat’ is one that frequently Editorial occupies us here at CB Towers, not to mention the forums at our Editor Dan Houston deputy Editor Sam Fortescue website: classicboat.co.uk. And most classics are obvious. Senior art Editor Peter Smith News Editor Steffan Meyric Hughes Take a boat like Eilean on p16, a quintessential classic of the 1930s. Publishing Consultant Martin Nott Proofing Vanessa Bird But there’s another definition – that of the spirit of tradition (p30). These boats are modern in their underwater hull form, but retain classic advErtiSiNg Senior Sales Executive lines above; think of wolves in sheep’s clothing. They’ll often have much Edward Mannering +44 (0)207 901 8016 [email protected] of the performance characteristics of modern yachts, but showing the Client relationship manager Louisa Skipper +44 (0)207 901 8014 grace and looks of a classic enough to pass off well at classic events. [email protected] Of course, they have to race in their own class, and SOT yachts advertisement production A l l p o i n t s m e d i a + 4 4 ( 0 ) 1 2 0 2 4 7 2 7 8 1 can’t be handicapped the same way as the venerable old classics, but www.allpointsmedia.co.uk Managing director Paul Dobson they do create an entirely new type of boat – the modern classic. deputy Managing director Steve Ross Commercial director Vicki Gavin So what fits the bill? Surely the 1930s J-Class (p34) is a thorough- Publisher Simon Temlett the Chelsea Magazine Company ltd bred classic? Curiously not. For although the J-Class have the same Liscartan House 127-131 Sloane Street, London SW1X 9AS lines as their deep-keeled forebears, their modern rigs and accoutre- +44 (0)20 7901 8000 www.chelseamagazines.com ments have propelled them into SOT. And far from being put down by Copyright the Chelsea Magazine Company 2012 all rights reserved that, the class is flourishing. There are now as many newbuilds as there ever were in the class heydey of the 1920s and 30s. CLASSIC SUPERYACHT SUMMER 2012 3 CSY02 ContED.indd 3 30/05/2012 11:16 Agneta 82 ft Knud Reimers Yawl 1950 € 1,300,000 Lying France AGNETA has many features of the Square Metre yachts for which her It is probably not surprising with his lust for beautiful things that designer Knud Reimers became famous – but combined with those of Gianni Agnelli was to become AGNETA’s owner. More recently her fast ocean racers of the period making her perhaps an early version of light displacement and awesome performance has brought her wins today’s ‘mini maxis’. Having one of his designs described by Uffa Fox in the Vintage classes of Mediterranean Classic regattas. AGNETA “...as near to perfection as it is possible to get in this imperfect World” is offered in impressive condition and absolutely ready to classic Reimers’ AGNETA surely qualifies! race or cruise in comfort. Rowdy 59 ft Herreshoff New York 40 Bermudan Cutter 1916 € 1,150,000 Lying France As a ‘Fighting Forty’ ROWDY has dominated her class in classic 26,000 miles to the Americas Cup Jubilee. Authentic and her regattas. Meanwhile as the cruiser for which the class was principally condition hard to fault ROWDY today personifies the total versatility designed, her sister RUGOSA flew the flag in 2001 to voyage some of this design – one of very few as capable from any era. 33 High Street, Poole BH15 1AB, England. Tel: + 44 1202 330077 email: [email protected] www.sandemanyachtcompany.co.uk Untitled-14 1 29/05/2012 10:22 CORY SILKEN CORY FOREWORD Clockwork classics Just as the wind fills sails with power and life, endless hours of meticulous restoration later, enthusiasm drives the passionate and commit- Eilean sailed back across the Atlantic Ocean, ted. For eight years, Officine Panerai has been powered only by the wind and the strong helping to sustain and promote the extraordi- ocean currents. Throughout the Antigua nary world of vintage sailing through its Classic Yacht Regatta, her return was cel- involvement with the Panerai Classic Yachts ebrated with great joy by all that knew her Challenge. Each season brings much that is before her decline. Seeing the huge effort that ANGELO new as well as offering us the opportunity to went into Eilean’s faithful restoration so BONATI, explore a unique world, thanks to the fascinat- warmly appreciated was incredibly rewarding, CEO ing stories that each one of these beautiful craft as was watching her sail the turquoise waters OFFICINE has etched in her wood. of the Caribbean once again. PANERAI For the last three years, the Panerai British Different but equally beautiful turquoise Classic Week has been one of the high points of waters, this time in Barbados, await all those our racing calendar. In July, it takes us all the courageous folk embarking on what I personally way to the legendary Cowes, on the Isle of feel is the unmissable challenge of 2012, as well Wight, to celebrate a piece of maritime history as the big addition to Panerai’s clasic sailing with a large throng of likeminded sailing season: the Panerai Transat Classique. On 2 protagonists and enthusiasts. Significantly, December, dozens of legendary classic sailing Officine Panerai’s Eilean, the bermudan ketch yachts will leave Cascais in Portugal, home to penned by design wizard William Fife III and the exclusive Clube Naval de Cascais, to race built by Fife of Fairlie in 1936, will be making their way across the Atlantic to Barbados. her first visit to Cowes this year. An event held only every four years, the This year, in fact, is a very important year Panerai Transat Classique is a truly extraordi- symbolically for Eilean, and not merely nary race that unites the beauty of the great because of her presence at Cowes. In April, ladies of the sea with the valour of man as he she also made her first return voyage to challenges the power of the ocean. What better Antigua, where she’d spent much of her life, way to end a season that, Classic Boat readers and where I discovered her in an advanced will not be surprised to learn, looks set to be state of dilapidation in 2006. Five years and superbly rich and rewarding. CLASSIC SUPERYACHT SUMMER 2012 5 CSY02 Forward 2.indd 5 29/05/2012 15:02 CLASSIC COMEBACK Wooden boats are no longer niche. Steffan Meyric Hughes looks at the resurgent scene CSY02 Classic Yacht scene.indd 6 30/05/2012 11:57 CSY02 Classic Yacht scene.indd 7 30/05/2012 11:57 CARIBBEAN The Caribbean regattas attract the world’s largest and fastest yachts in the spirit of tradition class. The islands of St Barths, St Martin and Antigua are increasingly host to this growing, largely American, scene where yachts cost tens of millions and are often well over 100ft (30m), like This is Us, the 125ft (38m) black schooner in this photo, taken at the St Barths Bucket in March. FIFES ON THE CLYDE The yachts of William Fife III, third in a line of Scottish naval architects and boatbuilders, today represent the apex of classic yacht desirability. Every five years, they gather on the Clyde Estuary near their ‘birthplace’ to celebrate. This photo is of The Lady Anne, a 75ft (22.9m) PREVIOUS SPREAD JAMES ROBINSON TAYLOR, PANERAI ROBINSON TAYLOR, SPREAD JAMES PREVIOUS cutter built in 1912. MARC TURNER 8 CLASSIC SUPERYACHT SUMMER 2012 CSY02 Classic Yacht scene.indd 8 30/05/2012 11:57 CLASSIC YACHT SCENE Cory SILKEN Cory J-CLASS RACING No class has grown like the J-Class over the last five years. As well as the three Charles Nicholson originals dating from their heyday in the 1930s (Endeavour, Velsheda and Shamrock V), there are now five new boats in build or sailing. A record turnout of five is expected to race in the English Channel, at Falmouth and Cowes, this summer. The photo above shows Velsheda and Hanuman racing at the St Barths Bucket earlier this year. TIM WrIGHT y the end of the 1960s, modernity was the watchword of the developed world. Boats ANTIPODES were increasingly built in a new material called glass-reinforced plastic, the moon Classic yacht racing in Australia and New had been conquered, new cityscapes Zealand is healthy, well-established and meant people could live communally and growing. Couta workboats regularly sail cheerfully in high-rise blocks and alongside yachts at Aussie regattas. New Bcomputers would one day make work a thing of the past. Zealand’s scene is centred around Auckland Of course, history has shown just how rapidly some on the North Isle, where there has been a of those bold hopes faded.