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Kim Hartley bought Morning Mist in the spring of 2005 and sailed her back from Milford Haven to Chichester in very demanding conditions. The yacht proved that she could handle big seas despite the fact she ‘made water’ at an alarming rate! Two of the four crew jumped ship at Dartmouth leaving the remainder to try and dry out the alternator and starter motor which had taken a good shower from the flywheel which dipped into the bilges and distributed water across every electrical fitting possible in the engine compartment! The sail into Chichester harbour at dawn was magnificent, reaching at over 8 knots with full sail in an easterly force 3 or 4. The whole trip now felt worthwhile! Cygnet (her original name) had been built in 1906 by the Burgoine brothers of Kingston on Thames who were famous for their Thames A Raters and Royal Barges! Their company went out of business in 1910 but a son in law bought the firm from the receivers and their offices today are named after the brothers, Burgoine House. The yacht’s designer was G. Chalmers who was also the first registered keeper but very little else is known about him. (If anyone has any info we’d love to hear it!). He designed the boat to have a very shallow draft, just under 4 feet and a long keel with a cast iron shoe through which fitted some sort of centre board. This had long since been filled in with concrete! There were also legs available to allow her to take the ground. Unusually she was fitted with a small petrol engine made in Birmingham by a firm called Tangys Ltd. This early incorporation of an engine ensured the prop shaft was built through the centre line and now uses a Bukh 24 horse diesel. An eye catching design with a beautiful, long counter stern and long bow sprit she also has plenty of bright work with four sky hatches and a good sized, self draining cockpit. The hull construction is of Burma Teak on Oak frames with bronze fastenings and an Elm hog. The interior is teak and mahogany with berths for five plus one in a hammock! No original plans could be found but investigations around the
boat itself allowed Harry Spencer MBE (now 80 years young!) of
Spencer Rigging in Cowes to draw a rig that was as close as we
felt possible to her original Gaff Yawl configuration. The earliest
photograph we could find was by Beken dating back to 1935 by which
time she had lost her mizzen and most of her bowsprit as well
as the gaff! A photo in National Geographic from April 1963 shows
her cruising the Gota Canal in Sweden with a pushpit/pulpit and
guard wires!
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Sailing as a Bermudan Cutter during the BCYC Regatta in 2005 Morning Mist lost her mast through the failure of a fitting on the bowsprit which heralded the start of a winter long restoration by Lallows in Cowes. Her first event was the 2006 Round the Island in which she won her class and the Jubilee trophy! The Hull was stripped and re-calked where necessary and work commenced on freeing the slot for the new, reinstated centre board which was to be made from stainless steel with Tufnel runners. It took over 100 man hours to drill out the slot and then re-drill the pivot and stopper pins for the centre board! The spars were created by Bob Snow at Maritime Enterprises in Yarmouth of Douglas Fir and Sitka Spruce and all the bronze fittings made specially by Moray MacPhail of Classic Marine. A great deal of help throughout this process not only came from Harry Spencer but also Mark Butler of James Lawrence sailmakers in Brightlingsea. Mark, as well as being an absolute font of knowledge is also the world’s most enthusiastic gaff person! The boat was then re-registered as Cygnet of London in an effort to take her back to her original looks and the hull painted Edwardian white in an attempt to stop the sun from expanding her planks. Cygnet’s Centenary celebrations took place during
the BCYC Cowes regatta in July 2006.
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