1931 Bermudan cutter built in Bangor
Eilidh is a 17.80 m Bermudan cutter designed byAlfred Mylne (design no. 331, 1930) and built in 1931 byA.M. Dickie & Sons in Bangor (North Wales). The yard was an offshoot of Dickie’s Tarbert premises: Peter Dickie had left Scotland in 1925 to take over Rowlands Dockyard in Bangor, maintaining close ties with the Mylne and Fife design offices.
The yacht was commissioned by Scottish yachtsman Thomas E. Russell for extended family cruising and regattas. Her name is Gaelic for Helen, in honor of the owner’s niece.
Specifications
- Overall length: 17.80 m
- Waterline length: 11.89 m
- Beam: 3.65 m
- Draft: 2.40 m
- Air draft: 22 m
- Displacement: approx. 21 tonnes
- Construction: Burmese teak planking on oak frames, elm sister-keelson
History and owners
The Russell family used Eilidh from 1931, based at Bute Island on the Clyde. From 1935, the yacht cruised in Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Estonia. Left in Hankø during World War II, she survived the conflict and returned to her home port of Colintraive in August 1948.
In 1973, Eilidh was sold to the Mill family (Clyde Cruising Club), who raced her. In 2001, the yacht was found in Dumbarton and acquired by Jean-François Behard, her first French owner, who brought her to the Pasqui yard in Villefranche-sur-Mer for a full restoration.
Restoration 2002–2007
Structural refit carried out byGilbert Pasqui in Villefranche-sur-Mer: all structural work addressed, addition of a double forward cabin, new mast and boom in spruce built in 2004 to original plans. The mast step reinforcement was completed in 2007 atClassic Works in La Ciotat.
Trophies
- 1981: winner of the CCC/RORC Blue Water Race to La Trinité-sur-Mer (under Mill ownership)
- 1992: winner of the CCC/RORC Blue Water Race to Brest
- 1994: Clyde–Brest record improved by one day and one hour
- Since 2005: classic yacht regattas in the Mediterranean (based in Marseille)
