I’m sure many of us, being classic yacht aficionados, have been involved to some extent or other in the restoration process. I know I have, mainly because I can only afford to buy yachts that are down on their luck. But it is known now by many that I have really enjoyed bringing better luck to lovely yachts, and then finding them loving owners and thus a better assured future.
The first yacht I bought in 1989, Bettine, the first Laurent Giles Brittany class built in 1939, was in pretty good fettle and I managed to keep her as such for her new owners who came along when I bought Undina from Ross Gannon of the Gannon and Benjamin yard in Marthas Vineyard, and I imported her from the US in 1996. My partner in this purchase (an old school friend) died, and she was sold to John, and a few years later to Griff Rys Jones. The rest is stuff of legend.
In 2000 Jo and I bought Josephine in Marthas Vineyard, a sister ship of Undina, and Ross reframed her and did a load of other stuff, and I did all the cosmetics in Cowes, ready for the Americas Cup Jubilee Regatta in 2001.
She was followed in 2006 by Infanta, which Jo and I bought on Cape Cod (you may detect a pattern developing here!) and we restored her in Bembridge to participate in the first Transat Classique. She has been in the wonderful ownership of John Hall since 2010 and we have sailed a lot with them on the Cote d’Azur, Greece, a Fastnet and culminating in the New York Regatta in Rhode Island July 2019, since when she has been waiting on Cape Cod, just round the corner from where we bought her, waiting for Covid to lift.
Jo and I now have Kalea, a 21m Italian superyacht of 1964, which we bought in Rome. She was sound, but down on her luck and I am now working on her in Cowes with a view, when finished to have her in the Med, and Ionian, and Aegian while I find her new owner. Tough work but someone’s got to do it.
Kalea on the Almalfi Coast
The size and extent of works on Kalea are as whole different ball game! As you might imagine, it’s not been possible to do the work all the time, not least because I keep having to go out to make more money, even so it is quite true to say that from week to week it is really quite difficult to discern any progress – rather like watching paint dry.
To give some measure to the extent of the job, in order to do a bit of carpentry on Infanta a few years ago, I set my workmate up in the saloon. As ever, there was a need to offer up re-shape offer up again, mark carefully, measure twice, pilot drill and so on, each action requiring the work mate to be moved or collapsed until the rain stopped and I could put it on the pontoon.
Trying out Kaleas Saloon for future use.
Doing a similar piece of work on Kalea a few months ago, unable to complete it I packed the workmate away. Due to one thing and another it was sometime before I could get back on board to finish the job. During the interim, I could not recall where I had put it. It took me ten minutes to even find it! Not in the lazarette aft which will accommodate 3 crew sitting down playing cards. I knew it wasn’t in the big owners’ cabin or it’s en suite shower room; obviously not in the saloon, bar or galley, guest cabin port, guest cabin starboard or their en suites. There was no sign in the Crew quarters forward, its en suite, or even in the workshop in the forepeak.
Beginning to wonder if I had taken it home, I found it in the engine room!
Sub Note: Regarding importing lovely classic yachts from the States, sometimes the exchange rate is good, shipping from the E Coast is not too expensive, and three times I have paid just 3% vat – like on classic cars.
Tim Blackman
BCYC Admiral