Sail Number:
Type: Cutter
LOA: 66’0″ / 20.12m – LOD: 62’1″ / 18.93m – LWL: 46’0″ / 14.02m – Beam: 13’6″ / 4.12m – Draft: 8’0″ / 2.44m – Displacement: 39 Tons – Ballast: – Yard Number: 754 – Hull material: Wood – Designer: J M Soper & Son – Built by: Philip & Son Dartmouth – Year Launched: 1929 – Original Name: – Original Owner: Private – Former name(s) – Sail Area:
Historical:
SANDEMAN YACHT COMPANY – This magnificent yacht, designed by Joseph M. Soper in 1928 for railway civil engineer Haines B. Ede of New Milton, Hampshire, was built in Dartmouth at the famous Philip & Son Noss Shipyard of stout composite construction – teak and pitch pine planking on galvanised steel frames – and launched in July 1929. In her early days ZEPHYR carried two boats on deck, a 12 ft cedar planked motor launch and a 12 ft sailing dinghy with centre board, for which the davits, which survive to this day were provided. It is believed that she started life as a Marconi-rigged gaff cutter and was converted c1936 to the bermudan cutter rig she still sails under.
Apparently ZEPHYR had arrived in Italy in the early 1950s owned by Marquis Giacomo De Santis of Rome. In 1957 she became the property of the Marquis Giacomo Dusmet and in 1963 of Doctor Bracci-Torsi of Rome. In 1965 she was at the Versilia Boat Club of Viareggio and in 1969 she went under the Panama flag of Yen Bay Enterprise Inc. and although the owner Renè Paolanc of Milan was President of the company, in the Lloyd Register of 1966 she was registered to Club Nautico Versilia and home port Viareggio.
Dr Carlo De Carlo bought her in 1972 and replaced the cotton sails with Dacron, along with the electric wiring and the propeller. In 1985 he replaced original frames with stainless steel, installed a generator, a fridge, and brought all the electronic equipment up to date. At that time the original 12 ft wooden tender (Philip & Son build no: 755) was replaced with an inflatable dinghy with Evinrude 15HP engine. Over the years he maintained her making renovations, restyling and installing new systems and equipment as needed.
From the original plans it is clear that the original main access to the cabins has been changed and access to the main deck is now by a ten step companionway staircase, designed with the clear intent to separate the master accommodation aft with two double cabins and en suite head, from the crew in the bow area with three hammocks and a separate head. After 1960 the relationship between owners and crew changed very much, leading to a complete transformation in the bow, where now there is a cabin with two berths and a proper galley.
In 1984, during the Veteran Boat Rally in at Porto Cervo, Sardinia, strong winds snapped the boom, which it transpired had been made in 1937 (the year was branded on the inside). What is on the boat today has been remade identically to the original by Cantieri Carlini of Rimini.
Provenance (The Wall of Remembrance – The Owners, Crew & Notable Guest):
- Guardian/Owner: (1929) – Haines B. Ede, New Milton, Hampshire
- Guardian/Owner: – Marquis Giacomo De Santis, Rome
- Guardian/Owner: – Yen Bay Enterprise Inc.
- Guardian/Owner: – Club Nautico Versilia
- Guardian/Owner: (1972) – Dr. Carlo De Carlo
Come Eravamo | The Way We Were from Classic Yacht TV on Vimeo.