What of Vadura

[Don Victore]

The pictures of "Rainbow" got me to thinking about Vadura. You can see her here at http://www.butterflute.com/swbt_highlights2.pdf on page 16 bottom right hand corner. Such a beautiful boat. If I remember right she's a william fife 105, over all. I remember her when she was together. Such a shame what has happened to her. I think she is teak on Iron frames. Does any one else know or know her/about her. This is a deserving boat for restoration in my opinion. But the price tag would be very substantial. Turn of the century I think she maybe?:(

[dreyer]

Don,
Im working on finding someone who is financially able to take her on.
She is still afloat but her interior is gutted and she had temporary ply decks keeping the water out.

She is an Alfred Mylne Design #298 Launched in 1926
91.50' LOA
63' LWL
19' Beam
12.50' Draught

There are rumors that there is a storage unit full of her interior, deck hardware and sails ashore.

Her hull is in suprisingly sound condition, she isnt taking on water but she would need structural attention in her steel floors and steel deck beams.

From there its pretty much everything, engineering, deck, joiner work, rig, interior etc.

A mammoth task but she has incredible history & i am in contact with past owners, past crew and the company that owns the mylne archive and holds all her drawings.

Apparently she was built for an italian baroness and owned by an olympic medalist sailor during the 50s. She has circumnavigated and for a long time held the record from Tahiti to New Zealand or so the story goes.

To se her afloat and racing in the med against Belle Aventure, Thendara, Sumurun, Lelatnina, Nordwind et al would be a dream come true.

If anyone has more information or knows of parties who would be interested in this massive undertaking please let me know.

I will be up in her vicinity in the next month or so and will be doing as much research/digging around as I can.

I have befriended her caretaker but not met the owner yet. It all hinges on convincing him that letting go of the old girl will save her from certain death.

I will post some pics tonight. I best get off to work.

[Don Victore]

Dreyer,

I would give my right nut to be involved in her restoration when and if you can get that together. I guess I got all her facts wrong:o It has been so long. I first saw her in the early 90's. She was at Sanford and Wood's yard. Then. She was not in the greatest shape but all together and absolutely beautiful. When You come will you be going aboard If so I'd like to accompany you. That boat has been in my thoughts for a long time now. I'm probably wrong on this point aswell, but was she not teak (for planking?) And if so how has this reacted with the Iron frames.

Victore

[davidjgray]

Hi

We have had contact with the owner who seems a little difficult to pin down on a selling price - or even if he wants to sell the yacht. Perhaps if you are in the area, you will be able to talk with him face to face.

With a yacht the size of Vadura, it may be easier to build a new one - we certainly have all the drawings - and if Vadura isn't quite your thing then we have at least another 399 beautiful yacht designs to suit every classic taste!

We are continuing to run the design business of A.Mylne & Co under the umbrella of Ace Marine Ltd - Naval Architects. see www.mylne.com (http://www.mylne.com) for some further information

THE AMERICAS CUP

We are doing research at present for a book on Alfred Mylne. We came accross the following article in the New York Times, and wondered if anyone might be able to shed more light on what was going on at this time - and who we might speak to to find out more, especially America's Cup History at this time. Is there an Archivist at the New York Yacht Club?

FIFE AND MYLNE COMING.; To Study Conditions Here for Use In America's Cup Race.
New York Times
March 21, 1907, Thursday
Page 10, 342 words
LONDON, March 20. -- It is understood here that both Alfred Mylne and William Fife, Jr., the two yacht designers who are building boats under the American measurement rule to contest for the Canada's Cup in behalf of the Royal Canadian Yacht Club, have accepted invitations to visit America in June and witness the cup contests....
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/article/abstract/button_viewfull.gif (http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9D02E3DB123EE033A25752C2A9659C946697D6CF)

Yours sincerely

David Gray

[vadura]

the boats interiors as well as sails and most of her teak deck is all stored in a barn in Bolinas,Ca in her owners property...his name is Ralph Garside ...415.868.0254 he wants to sell her but i dont know his asking price......the ship has a pedigree a mile long and restoring her would be an investment that would only grow in value...she is one of a kind............here is a tidbit just to show her incredible workmanship....her hull is all Burmese teak,aged 11 years before it was used in her construction....you cant get that kind of wood anymore...its as hard as steel....

[vadura]

i lived on the Vadura for 2 hard years...i felt so sorry for her...she deserves better...i was able to patch her decking temporarely...so she would not leak when it rains....but without massive amounts of money its a hopeless cause...yet her hull is sound....no leakage but sooner or later....wont someone with money[lots of] and the class to see a true investment check her out and buy her??? she is worth it.....she is anchored in her own granny spot with her own dock next to her....had i the money i would not have hesitated one moment to restore her...she is the classiest boat in town....no megayacht cant compare with her pedigree and beauty...when i was aboard yachts circled her for second looks and more pics were snapped of her than i can count...

[dreyer]

Fernando,
Its James from New Zealand. Good to see you on here. I still think about Vadura regularly but now I have my own little wooden ship that is consuming my time and effort in San Diego. Im working in france on a 250ft yacht now which unfortunately keeps me away from my boat but keeps my bank account out of the red & keeps me on the water. After posting a few messages online about Vadura I have been in contact with so many people who have crossed paths with her in the past its incredible. Be it Ex-Crew, Relatives who were captains etc. From her original launch date right through to the 90s. I really hope someone with the backing for such a product can come through and put together a team to rescue her. I will be first to put my hand up to help.
Regards
James.

[nige]

First off it's great to know vadura is still afloat. If not in the best shape, I worked lived and partyied hard on vadura from 1986-1990. She has been a big part of my life, to know someone is trying to get her back to her former glory is great. She is such a beautiful boat, we have been through a lot together.I first sailed on her in Fiji then re joined her in Darwin on her way to Perth for the Americas cup. After the cup we sailed to Tassie the up the east coast to cairns ended up spending over 2 years cruising up & down the coast with a break to NZ then back to Hobart for Australia's bicentenial tall ships race to Sydney in 1988, partaking in the tall ships parade on Sydney harbour positioned right behind American Eagle. From oz we went to Fiji; Samoa; Suwarov; Bora Bora; Tahiti; Pitcairn Island; Easter Island then Panama; up to Cape Cod via Jamaica; Antigua; Bermuda.Then the last leg of my time on her was from the Carribean to Majorca via the Azores. All this time she was owned by the same family rarely chartering mostly sailing around keeping her looking great for the owners. Although I can't help physicaly as I live in oz, if I can help with any information on her or photo's I would be more than happy. Good luck. Nige

[Dani El]

I had a good friend named Mike Connally who crewed on the Vadura in the mid 80's when the owner of Minney's Chandlery in Newport Beach CA owned Vadura.
Mike told me that Vadura was Newport's tallest wooden mast and in those days she was in perfect condition.
I had the privilege of sailing on board during the LA olympics when Vadura sailed to Long Beach to watch the sailing races there.
Other boats would come alongside and admire her. What a beauty she was!!
Last I saw her she was for sale in San Diego harbor and still looking fine.
I was wondering what happened to her and to google her name and find this was quite a shock.
I really could not believe it until I saw the photo that Don Victore linked. I was praying it was another yacht of the same name, but that's her alright.
If anyone is interested in more info on Vadura, I'm sure they could learn a lot from Minney's Chandlery in Newport Beach, CA.