Charging through the water with tremendous power and speed Drumbeat's huge varnished mahogany hull is a striking and legendary sight to behold. Built at Clare Lallow, Cowes, Drumbeat of today is quite different from the 1957 58ft masthead Bermudan cutter designed by Raymond Hunt for the Hon. Max Aitkin, son of Lord Beaverbrook - proprietor and founder of the Daily Express newspaper.

 

As a key yacht in British ocean racing history she was described in 1958 Yachting World Annual as, "the most technically ingenious yacht to have appeared for many years".

Originally designed with twin centreboards, Drumbeat was of the American type with a broad beam, shoal draft, generous overhangs and a rig of low aspect ratio. The shear size and weight of Drumbeat's beam is striking even to the untrained eye, which with a beam of 20 per cent more than the average Class I British yacht of her waterline length from 1958, perhaps explains her busty proportions.

 

Drumbeat's graceful sheer line disguises a length of raised depth amidships which provides necessary depth within the shallow body of the hull, and the incidental advantage of forming a breakwater a few feet forward of the mast, where a portion of foredeck drops into a well with a foot rail.

 

Built for the offshore Bermuda race in 1958, the introduction of duel centreboards, positioned side by side, which could be lowered alternatively according to tack, was regarded as a radical development in racing yacht design. The motivation for such a design emerged when the advantages of a keel with an asymmetrical section able to develop a higher lift-drag ratio had been discovered and thought to be an advantageous asset to a vessel's performance. Indeed they did power Drumbeat with an exceptional speed off the wind with her relatively shallow bilge for her size.

 

Her 'ingenious' design has not stood the test of time, however. Sir Max Aitkin replaced the duel boards with a single centreboard after just one season, nearly doubling her draft to 10ft 6in. Intent on improving and altering Drumbeat he continued to experiment with new technologies and rigs - a total of ten installed from 1958 to 1967.

 

Drumbeat appears to have always moved with times, a classic with a mighty yet adaptable character. Under ownership of Lord Peter Palumbo, Ed Dubois redrew her plans between 1986 and 1990, and it is during this period that she metamorphosed into a totally altered yacht. She was given a long keel, fin and skeg rudder.

 

In 1996 Alan Dykes bought and transformed Drumbeat from a racing yacht to a seaworthy, luxurious and comfortable cruising yacht by, among other additions, the installation of hydraulic steering, electric winches and refurbishment and modernisation of the interior accommodation.