Tilly joining Milly

A new Sunbeam for Mylor, and she’s in glassfibre

Twenty years after the master shipwrights of Mylor Yacht Harbour built a trio of classic wooden Falmouth Sunbeam yachts, they are now embarking on a new generation challenge: an immaculate Sunbeam finished to the specification of the 1920s originals – but made of glassfibre.

The hull of Tilly arrives at Mylor next week, fresh from being moulded on the Isle of Wight from Alfred Westmacott’s original 100 year old design.

Just as Tilly is a Sunbeam for a new generation, so Ollie Graffy, whose project it is to bring her to Cornwall, is the new generation at Mylor:

“Mylor Yacht Harbour has had a long-term relationship with these beautiful boats – building three wooden ones, fully restoring several others and the ongoing maintenance of many of the original fleet,” he says. “When the opportunity arose to get involved with building a modern version that has all the grace and style of the originals, performs the same, has a water-tight bulkhead and is much easier to maintain, we jumped at the chance.”

With the bare GRP hull at Mylor Yacht Harbour the Marine Team of shipwrights and GRP specialists will work their magic on fine teak joinery, modern sailing systems and exceptional attention to detail creating a glorious little yacht ready for the water. Once complete, there will be little to tell Tilly from her wooden sisters.

“It’s such an exciting project for our expert teams to re-create a boat that has such great history.” says Ollie. “We’ve got to maintain all the qualities of the traditionally built vessel but with easier maintenance and a lower cost of ownership. It’s a passion project that strengthens our boat-building skills and the numbers of Sunbeams in the Falmouth fleet at the same time.”

Mylor’s great wish is to see many more Sunbeams sailing in the Falmouth area with the modern models competing in the racing fleet as they already do on the Solent, securing the longevity of the class going forward.

For on-going information on Mylor Yacht Harbour’s “Operation Tilly” – and the wider work of the Marine Team on projects classic, modern and industrial – please visit www.mylor.com  or www.mylor.com/marineteam  or call 01326 372 121.

Main photo shows local boat Milly, sailing in 1999

 

Meanwhile in the other place they sail Sunbeams, and where glassfibre boats have been welcome for some time the 11th in the fleet has been launched…

The 98 year old historic Solent Sunbeam class welcomed its newest addition to the fleet with the launch of a new boat at Itchenor on 30^th March 2021, writes Sarah Johnson.  This latest launch is the eleventh GRP Solent Sunbeam to be commissioned in this highly competitive and growing classic keelboat fleet which is based at Itchenor Sailing Club. 

The owners of V72, Adrian and Nikki Edwards have named her ‘Serendipity’,  in keeping with the tradition of having names ending in ‘y’. Nikki Edwards explained that she first saw a Solent Sunbeam whilst sailing around Chichester Harbour in 2020 with husband Adrian.  A Sunbeam passed close-by and Nikki was so captivated by her beautiful lines that she turned to her husband to ask if they could have one!

After two trial sails, a purchase was agreed and the hull was moulded on the Isle of Wight and the yacht finished by wooden boat specialists, Haines Boatyard at Itchenor. Adrian is an experienced racer and is very much looking forward to the challenge of racing in this competitive and sociable fleet, having competed in a variety of dinghies and keelboats over the years, most recently in the Victory Class in Portsmouth. Interestingly the Victory Class is another local, classic design which has also embraced wooden and GRP boats racing on an equal basis.

The Solent Sunbeam class offers competitive and sociable weekend regattas, Thursday evening harbour racing and a number of week-long racing events at both Itchenor and Cowes, from April through to September.

30+ Solent Sunbeams regularly sail from Itchenor Sailing Club ranging from 98 years in age to several new GRP and newly epoxied yachts ensuring excellent one-design racing in a competitive and very sociable fleet. Newcomers to the class are welcomed into the fleet with tips and advice on ownership, rig set-up and maintenance freely available from the long-standing owners and enthusiasts.

For more information on sailing and owning a Solent Sunbeam as well as information on all the forthcoming events please contact the Class Association via the website at www.solentsunbeam.co.uk