Type: 5-Tonner
Vril Specifications:
LOA: 50’2″ / 15.30m – LOD: 32’4″ / 9.85m – LWL: 28’9″ / 8.78m – Beam: 6’3″ / 1.92m – Draft: 5’6” / 1.69m – Gross Displacement: 6.6 tonnes – Design Number: 5 – Designer: G.L. Watson – Original Owner(s): G.L. Watson, John Lawrence and J.B. Hilliard – Current Owner: – Year Built: 1894 – Built By: Messrs. Henderson’s Yard, Patrick, Glasgow – Hull Material: – Status: Destroyed – Sail Number:
Built for G.L. Watson along with co-owners John Lawrence and J.B. Hilliard. The trio borrowed a corner of D&W Henderson’s yard (where Britannia would later be built) to create a yacht that would shake up all preconceptions in yacht design. Vril was the first yacht constructed with external lead ballast. She was round bodied with great sail-carrying ability. Short counter with a knuckle on the quarter, with no bulkheads. Last yacht fashioned with a stu’n’s’l, fore and aft studding-sail.
Five-tonners and five-raters in the North by G.L. Blake in Badminton Library – Yachting, 1894.
G.L. Watson and Co. Ltd – “Thanks to the remarkable survival of original drawings, data and her half model, it is possible to accurately re-build Vril – the precursor of all modern racing yachts. Significant research and design work has already been carried out. Construction could either be traditional or in line with more modern boat building methods. Similarly, we have made provisions for a small engine and simple systems.
Provenance (The Wall of Remembrance – The Owners, Crew & Notable Guest):
Owner/Guardian: (1894) G.L. Watson, John Lawrence and J.B. Hilliard