|
|
|||||||||||||||
Iolaire is an historic boat and a bit of British history. She has been in commission for 95 of her 100 years and only been laid up during World War II. During World War I she was Irish owned by the Tweedy family, and raced throughout the war. It is thought that no other yacht/boat in the world has been in commission more years than Iolaire. A truly historic boat when you consider she has been owned by two founding members of the RORC, R H ‘Bobby’ Sommerset and Major P T Rose-Richards. Iolaire took part in the 1932 Channel Race by owner Major T P Rose-Richards - a founding member of the RORC and also the Commodore for a number of years. She also participated in 1934 Cowes Week by the then owner Lieutenant Colonel Alston – member of the RORC. And Cowes week 1939, with owner Owen Edmunds who flew spies behind the German lines in World War I at night. He would later fly back and pick them up. In World War II Owen Edmunds was in the ‘PIT’ Central Flight Control during the Battle of Britain but claimed his greater service was keeping the RORC in booze all through the war!
|
|
Iolaire participated in the 1951 Fastnet and 1952 Bermuda race. Owner R H ‘Bobby’ Sommerset; founding member of the RORC who served as a Commodore and Rear Commodore. In 1951 Iolaire won her division in the Fastnet Race and her class season point championship at age 48. Sommerset sailed Iolaire four times across the Atlantic, as far west as Jamaica, as far north as North Cape. Iolaire has been a prize winner, as a gaff rigged cutter, a Marconi 7/8 cutter and as a mast head yawl. She obviously has a fast hull. She can be raced in classic regattas under any rig or she can take off and cruise around the world under her present rig. She will have celebrated her 100th birthday by sailing in the 2005 Fastnet Race. Despite her age and because of her magnificent 1995 refit/rebuild, of 6,000 man hours, she is a low maintenance boat. Iolaire is ready to last another 100 years!
| |
|||||||||||||
