SKÅL 1930

Sailing Yacht SKÅL was commissioned by George V. Smith and Hobart Ford, Rye, New York, vice-commodore of the Cruising Club of America for the 1930 Bermuda Race in which she came a respectable 11th out of 42 starters, weathering some very bad conditions which had forced many of the fleet to retire. SKÅL was described in Richard Henderson’s 1981 book, “Philip Rhodes and his Yacht Designs”as, ‘A dry boat with little water on deck, excellent sea-keeping capability and a comfortable motion.'

Her design shows a long keel but cut-away forward to reduce wetted surface and a full brandy-glass shaped midships section, which with her generous beam contributes to her to standing up so well to her canvas. The remarkably flat buttock lines explain why they found her making little quarter wave, thereby reducing drag. She has the classic Rhodes sweet unexaggerated sheer line and freeboard.

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Richard F Lawrence acquired S/Y SKÅL for the 1931 Transatlantic race, the second smallest yacht in the fleet. The race was famously won by the Olin Stephens designed DORADE and while she has traded on this win ever since, SKÅL has been largely forgotten despite coming second in the 20 day race with a crew of 8, at one stage covering 823 miles in 4 days. While DORADE took a more northerly course from the start, SKAL stayed with the fleet to the south, only cutting up to the north and crossing DORADE'S track on the approach to Ireland before turning south east a little late to approach Lands End thus losing valuable time to DORADE. Approaching Plymouth she encountered near gale force winds and rain squalls but stood on still carrying her topsail and overtaking both a steamer and a steam trawler!

 

SKÅL remained in UK after the race and little is known of her history in that period save that she was believed to have laid in Cowes until bought there by a young naval officer, George Hepple in 1947/8. The original rig is said to have been burnt by bombing in the War and subsequently was replaced as a Bermudian sloop. Commander Heppel sailed her as a family yacht out of the Helford River until his death in 1986 when she was laid up. 

 

In 2003 SKÅL was acquired by Michel Bellion, France, a true classic boat enthusiast whose passion for heritage saved Skål and gave her life once more. His journey to restore SKÅL was not without difficulty. On delivering SKÅL from England to Fracne for the much needed restorartion, she sprung a plank and sunk  in 10m of water just off the coast of Brittany! Thankfully she was refloated, and Mr Bellion and his team spent the next four years restoring her to her former glory. 

The work was carried out by Hubert Stagnol in his Benodet boatyard 2006 – 2009. In 2007 she took time out to win the Belle Plaisance Race out of Benodet, finishing ahead of the great PEN DUIK another famous yacht owned by the late Eric Taberly. SKÅL took part in the 2015 Voiles de St Tropez regatta, once more encountering DORADE.

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In 2018 SKÅL was sold to a Greek owner who replaced the gaff rig with a more manageable yet powerful Bermudan cutter arrangement. Sadly Skal saw little use during this period, and the hull was now in dire need or repair. 

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By 2023, when we found Skål, she was looking somewhat neglected and a thorough survey revealed substantial structural issues.  CYH undertook a major restoration project to return Skål to her former glory. The most substantial work was replacing her backbone, the structural timbers that run her full length. All planking below the waterline was also replaced with full length Iroko and custom Silicon Bronze fastenings were manufactured in the UK and used throughout.  Original plans and drawings were meticulously studied, which provided a fascinating insight as to how the hull has moved and evolved over the past century.  Whilst the original hull specifications were meticulously adhered to, modern technical systems and comfort enhancements were sympathetically integrated throughout, breathing another 100 years of life into SKÅL and offering unique chartering opportunities.

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