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Historical:

Formerly owned by actor Errol Flynn as ‘Sirocco’, she hosted many famous names in the heyday of Hollywood, and more recently has been the flagship of the fashion clothing company ‘Blanc Bleu’.

Flynn and his buddies indulged in so many antics that they earned the reputation of being the most notorious, hard-drinking “hell-raisers” on the island. Nearly every weekend the men would race their yachts to Catalina – Flynn on his Sirocco, Weissmuller on his Allure, and Bogart aboard his Santana. All three would bet on the outcome.

One particular race between them has reached legendary status. Weissmuller won and promptly boarded Flynn’s yacht to collect his winnings. According to an account related by Johnny Weissmuller Jr., Flynn was “drunk and belligerent,” and responded to his loss by aiming a small cannon mounted on the bow of his yacht at Weissmuller’s boat. As he lit the fuse, he removed a cigar from his mouth and announced: “I’ll sink you, you sumbitch!” Weissmuller rushed to the cannon and kicked the barrel upward, launching the cannonball straight up into the sky. The men watched helplessly as the projectile plunged vertically and tore through the yacht’s upper deck, missing the two by only a few feet. After a few seconds, Flynn “burst into uproarious laughter.”

Provenance (The Wall of Remembrance – The Owners, Crew & Notable Guest):

Owner/Guardian: (1929) Demarest Lloyd, Washington, DC
Owner/Guardian: (1938-1946) Errol Flynn
Actress/wife: Lili Damita (son Sean Flynn, while on assignment in Cambodia in April 1970, Flynn with fellow photojournalist Dana Stone were captured by communist guerrillas. Neither man was seen or heard from again.)
Business Manager: Wally Heinz
Actor: David Niven
Actor: Johnny Weissmuller
Actor: Humphrey Bogart
Actor: Lou Costello
Actor: Dick Powell
Owner/Guardian: (1960s-1970s) Mr. Jack Belcher, Las Vegas architect
1965 Captain Anthony Carter (South Seas cruise, Los Angeles-Tahiti waters and return.)
First Mate: M. Smith
Cook: John Smedley, Sydney
Crew: Bill Davis,
Crew: Mr. and Mrs. Roger Seastedt
Crew: Miss Laurel Bentley
Crew: Miss Judy Malone.

Resources

Catalina Islander
Errol Flynn Blog
Alden’s Designs
Tarzan, My Father, by Johnny Weissmuller, William Reed
Pacific islands monthly : PIM.Vol. 36, No. 2 ( Feb. 1, 1965)

Comments

BARBARA ANNE TUCKERMAN – June 30, 2021

Who owned SIROCCO around 1972/73 ?
I sailed on her (briefly) – in the South Pacific off Australia – Black Jack Mutton was a friend of owner –
The boat had been ‘restored’ in NZ I think
Can’t imagine I’ll hear but hope to be lucky.
Many thanks.

Judy Colling – November 14, 2021

I was part of a crew that chartered Sirroco in 1965 and sailed to Tahiti. We spent Christmas in Tahiti and New year in Bora Bora. Sirroco was owned by a guy named Jack Belcher. Tony Carter captained the yatch. We where gone 5 months. What a blast. I was 19.

Historical:

In 1935, when the New York Yacht Club was looking for boats to replace the 1905 “Thirties” designed by N.G. Herreshoff, their requirements included blue water seaworthiness in addition to grace and quickness. Olin Stephens and the Nevins Yacht Yard met the challenge, beating out competing designs by Alden and Nicholas Potter (the CAL 32). Twenty boats were built, with Olin Stephens specifying oak frames (1 5/8″ on 8″ centers), heavy Philippine mahogany planking, and a low, solid deck house, all without sacrificing speed or beauty. Originally priced at $11,000, the New York 32’s have stood the test of time, with about two-thirds of the original fleet still sailing.

In Olin Stephen’s words “We set out to design a good cruiser/racer with good all-around form, guided by the lines of Dorade, Stormy Weather and Edlu, and emphasized seaworthiness rather than around-the-mark agility.”

Provenance (The Wall of Remembrance – The Owners, Crew & Notable Guest):

Owner/Guardian: Peter Cassidy

Historical:

Singoalla, the largest and perhaps fastest of all archipelago cruisers. The impressive 150 m2 archipelago cruiser “Singoalla”, was designed by Gustaf Estlander, and built by the Hästholmsvarvet in 1919.

In 1918 Gustaf Estlander received an order for the largest class of archipelago cruiser, SK150, from Nils Österman who made a fortune during the economic 4 year boom of World War I. Singoalla was built at Hästholmsvarvet in Gåshaga on Lidingö, and delivered in 1919. Österman’s fortunes reversed and Gustaf Estlander takes possession of the newly built vessel and renames her – Singoalla. Unfortunately, she is too slightly built; blaming the shipyard and the rule she was built for. After reinforcement she successfully competes for the 1920–22 seasons, but is destroyed in a fire at a shipyard in Travemünde, Germany.

Search Magazine comments (searchmagazine.se)

Singoalla was extremely long – 24 meters and finished in 1919. She sailed faster than anyone else and then in 1923, she burned and nothing was left, which naturally led to speculation.

When a boat burns, there is a lot that remains. Some drawings can be found at Sjöhistoriska, but the boat is without a trace, says Nils Forsfält, owner of Spantfabriken, which is a design firm that produces parts for the renovation of classic boats. He himself has had far-reaching plans to rebuild Singoalla.

But something must first have gone wrong with the building now 100 years ago. Singoalla was transported to the Sandhamns Regatta in 1919 but did not start when the mast had cracked. Then the boat was inspected by the designers GR Liljegren and Carl Holmström. They were really not impressed and described the boat as a completely senseless build without the reinforcements needed. Before the 1920 season, the boat was reinforced, says the Archipelago Cruiser Association’s Jan Pettersson.

Singoalla’s beautiful lines are still as attractive today a century later…and the question remains should she be recreated.

Provenance (The Wall of Remembrance – The Owners, Crew & Notable Guest):

Owner/Guardian: Nils Österman, Stockholm commissioned the build, but ownership is transferred to Gustaf, as fortunes reversed.
Owner/Guardian: Gustaf Estlander

Skärgårdskryssare

In 1907, the Swedish Sailing Federation established a committee to design a national racing yacht class. Previous handicap rules had tended to be very simple and boats had evolved to be very fast and extreme racing machines, which were perceived as unsafe and impractical. Recently developed other options were the Universal rule (also called ‘American rule’) and the International Metre rule, neither of which were seen as fully satisfactory by the Swedish Sailing Federation. The committee completed its proposal the following year. It was accepted as the first Square Metre Rule: yachts were to be classed by their sail area which was fixed. In addition, there were minimum requirements for weight and cabin measurements. Four new classes were originally accepted: 22m², 30m², 45m² and 55m² classes. Soon, new classes were to follow: 38m² class in 1912; 15m², 75m², 95m², 120m² and 150m² classes in 1913; finally in 1915, 38m² and 45m² classes were combined to new 40m² class. The new rule became very popular within the Baltic region; between 1907 and 1920, Finnish yards alone built some 600 Square metre rule yachts. During peak years, Skerry cruisers made up 95 percent of the yards’ output. They were also exported to other European countries and the USA.

The golden age of the archipelago cruisers occurred during the period 1910-1930 and this development was brought forward especially by Erik Salander, who with designs such as the SK 55s “Britty”, “Gun”, “Eva” and “Nerida” got a respected name. His extremely long SK 75 “Ila”, built in 1917, with a length of 15.35 meters and with efficient lines, easily defeated all previously built boats in the class. After Salander stopped drawing archipelago cruisers in 1920, it was mainly Gustaf Estlander and Tore Holm who led the development further.

Other prominent designers of large archipelago cruisers were Knut Holm, with SK 75: “Blanka” and “Fylgia” and Zaké Westin with SK 120 “Ingun”. Despite the rule changes, the boats in all classes became narrower and longer. Gustaf Estlanders SK 150 “Singoalla” nearly 24 meters, not only the longest but also the fastest of all archipelago cruisers.

Historical

The Metre Yard comments – Silvervingen (Silver Wing) was designed by the legendary Tore Holms, 4 times Olympic medallist and the designer of some of the most successful 6 Metres in the world. She was built in 1939 by Helmer Gustavsson who worked for Hangersetbsaryet and built Silveringen at his own boatshed at home.
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On the launch of Silvervingen the Second World War broke out which meant that they were unable to tune her ready for racing and she was laid up. After WWII Tore Holm designed her a small cabin top and a basic cruising interior, like many 6s of this age they were fitted for cruising. She raced very successfully during the late 40’s and early 50’s as La Fleur, with name changes of Dorrit IV and Hexan in the late 50’s.
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It was in 2004 that the current owner purchased a very tired Silvervingen and went about putting a plan together for her rebuild, the owner was to undertake a 7 year rebuilt programme and was extremely thorough.
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The first, and most important, job was to raise her bow which had sunk some 70mm. The deck and beams were removed which allowed them to start raising the stem 5mm a month, this was a slow and very difficult job, but once she was level again, they went about replacing 70 broken ribs which had been damaged over the years and never replaced.
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Many jobs were undertaken including; removing all cast iron frames and having them re galvanised and fitted back into the boat, keel removed and her main keel hog replaced along with the rudder stock, and new stainless steel keel bolts fitted. The deck was laid using two layers of 6mm ply and then finished with Oregon pine and mahogany trim around the edge and coaming sides.
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In 2013 Silvervingen was ready to be launched and she was beyond immaculate condition, she is a real credit to her current owner who has put many hours of love into this restoration.
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Silveringen was weighed just after her restoration at 4,110kg which included her full inventory and 3 removable bunks, her design weight was 4,100kg.
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Since her relaunch Silvervingen has enjoyed very relaxed sailing with her current owner, she has had new sails built and has been meticulously maintained, every winter living in her purpose built shed.

Provenance (The Wall of Remembrance – The Owners, Crew & Notable Guest):

Owner/Guardian: Nils Gäbel
Owner/Guardian: Ägare Fredrik Lindqvist

Historical:

SIGNE is the third vessel from the design boards of Bruce King, since the Hawk was built in Rockland. She was built by Phil Long’s Renaissance Yachts in Thomaston, Maine, by many of the same craftsman that built both WHITEHAWK and WHITEFIN. After having admired WHITEHAWK for many years, the owner wanted a vessel a bit larger, with more accommodation.

SIGNE, from Scandinavian origins, means victory, and well suited to the commissioning owners ancestral heritage. Long time captain of WHITEHAWK was the owners representative during her five year build period. Joe Artese Design, of Lagunda beach, CA, was responsible for her beautiful interior.

Joe Artese Design Comments:

“I wanted the Owners to be able to see the majestic rig from every vantage point below decks”.

The owner’s brief called for an “Eclectic interior that ranged from traditional to contemporary with ‘surprises’ in every room and an abundance of natural lighting”. To achieve this end, Artese used almost 70 exotic, gem-like skylights, opening hatches and flush dioptic deadlights to illuminate the interior. This unprecedented use of sky lighting as an art form helped Signe win the recognition of both the International Superyacht Society and the Showboats Design Awards.

Provenance (The Wall of Remembrance – The Owners, Crew & Notable Guest):

Owner/Guardian: (1990) Wellman Family

Signe – A Song of Inspiration

One of the world’s greatest rock and roll guitarists found inspiration in her beautiful lines.