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The designer, John Alden, had made his name as a builder of elite racing schooners that retained all their beauty and style while constantly winning the premier ocean races of the time. When and If was a new idea: a yacht which would maintain all her classic beauty and hold her own in recreational racing […]

Eye of the Wind, originally called Friedrich, was built in 1911 in Germany for the South American hide trade. In 1923, she was sold to Sweden and carried general cargo under the name Merry. Three years later her first engine was installed and gradually her rig was reduced and altered to a ketch, but after […]

Vahine is a legendary Nautors Swan 65. She is the first ever series-built vessel to win the famous Whitbread Round the World Race. She is fast and is a very safe vessel. S/Y Vahine sails about 42,000 nautical miles a year, spending the wintertime in Caribbean waters. She sails home to Finland for the summer […]

Picton Castle was one of five similar trawlers built by Cochrane’s in Selby, all named after British castles. (The actual Picton Castle in Wales is still standing.) The other “castle” ships have all been taken out of service. Picton Castle went through World War II as a mine sweeper in the British Royal Navy. In […]

Thermopylae Clipper is the latest addition to the Discovery Sailing Project fleet and is based on the River Hamble near Southampton. This legendary yacht is a 60 foot cutter built by Colvic Craft in the UK in 1996 and has a great history. She was designed for the Clipper Round the World race and has […]

Kaliakra was built at the Gdansk Shipyard, Poland, in 1984 and is owned by Bulgarian Maritime Training Centre. The ship was specially designed for the training and qualification of students from the Maritime Academy in Varna – the future officers of the Bulgarian merchant fleet. The ship has participated on many occasions in a number […]

The Dutch sailing vessel Wylde Swan is a ship built for speed. She started life as a motor vessel in the 1920’s and brought fresh herring from the fishing grounds to markets ashore. Her slender hull is reminiscent of the large schooner yachts of the 1900 era. Wylde Swan is the largest two-mast topsail schooner […]

Bermudan sloop St. Iv is a Conrad 1200GT built in 1990 by Conrad Yards in Poland. She sails with a crew up to 10 but can also be  sailed double-handed. In 1993 St. Iv participated in The Tall Ships Races for the first time and since then has often taken part in The Tall Ships […]

Bonawentura was built in Gdansk in 1948.  In the early days she was a fishing boat in the Baltic Sea, until 1967, when she was withdrawn from working at sea and was stationed at the port of Wladyslavovo as a tug until 1974.  Eventually her hull was transported by barge to the Academic Nautical Club […]

The Discovery Sailing Project is the offshore sailing arm of the Docklands Scout Project (DSP). The project was founded in 1971 by the Discovery Committee who ran courses for Scouts and Guides on the RRS Discovery, Captain Scott’s polar exploration ship, when she was moored on the Victoria Embankment in central London. RRS Discovery has […]