Sail Number: K26
Type: International 8 Metre
LOA: 48′ 0″ / 14.63mm – LOD: 48′ 0″ / 14.63mm – LWL: – Beam: 8′ 6″ / 2.59 m – Draft: 6′ 6″ / 2.01m – Ballast: – Displacement: 8.91 Tons – Hull material: Wood – Sail Area: – Designer: William Fife III – Built by: William Fife and Son, Fairlie, United Kingdom – Year Built: 1930 – Current Name: Saskia – Current Owner: Murdoch McKillop – Rating: 1.003 – Yacht Club: Royal Northern and Clyde YC
Historical:
Saskia was designed in 1930 and built by William Fife III as a Royal Northern Yacht Club challenge for the Seawanhaka Cup so very hotly contested at the time. She was shipped to Oyster Bay, New York in 1931 and she won. Saskia returned to Britain and was sold south where she raced very successfully in the Solent. There were nine 8 metres racing on the Solent at the time and eight on the Clyde. A sterling silver model of the boat now resides in the Royal Yacht Squadron. She was chosen to represent Britain in the Berlin Olympics of 1936, the sailing events being held at Keil. It is rumoured that in Kiel, Hitler came aboard the German 8 metre that was competing there and also visited Saskia, commenting unfavourably.
Saskia raced hard and in 1938 alone she raced in over 50 races during the season. In 1954, the well known Australian yachtsman, Sir William Northam, bought SASKIA and shipped her to Sydney with the specific objective of winning the Sayonara Cup which had been the symbol of pre-eminence in big-boat, round the buoys racing in Australia since 1904. SASKIA won the Cup for the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron ending 34 years of dominance by the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria. She remained at her mooring at the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron winning many races for the next 52 years.
In 2007 she was shipped back to the UK to take part in that year’s celebration of 100 years of Metre Rule Sailing. She competed at the Centennial World Championships on the Clyde where she won her class and the Sira Cup. She then went on to win the Eight Metre Class at the Metre Class Centenary Regatta at Cowes.
Although she performed well in the 2007 regattas, SASKIA was clearly showing signs of age and was in need of restoration. She was sold by her then Australia owners, John and Michael Stephen to another Australian, Michael Maxwell. Mr Maxwell arranged for her to be shipped to the Absolute Projects yard in Lisbon, Portugal where a major restoration project began in 2008. Mr Maxwell’s original intention was to ship her back to Australia as a fully restored classic yacht.
For various reasons the project stalled and although it was substantially completed by 2010, Mr. Maxwell had not given instructions to ship. At this point another Eight Metre owner, a UK resident, heard of the project and arranged to inspect in August 2011. A period of protracted negotiation then took place and a sale finally happened on 2 November 2011. The new owner then arranged for further work to be done to put SASKIA back to her original condition including the removal of the engine.
Provenance (The Wall of Remembrance – The Owners, Crew & Notable Guest):
Owner/Guardian: (1935) – Mr R. Steele and Mr Preston.
Owner/Guardian: Duchess of Westminster Constance Constance Edwina Lewis”Shelagh”
Owner/Guardian: (Current) Murdoch McKillop