Can anyone help identify this yacht?

AMCD300

AMCD300

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I am working on a restoration project with members of my yacht club here in Naples - we have just lifted out of the water a French built (I believe) 18ft yacht, circa 1971, for some much needed TLC.

Can anyone please help identify her type?

Photos of the lift out:

DSC02332_zps1d054224.jpg


More here.....

http://i1280.photobucket.com/albums/a493/amcd300/DSC02339_zps0ea39fcb.jpg

http://i1280.photobucket.com/albums/a493/amcd300/DSC02343_zpsfedc5f41.jpg

Hard to see in the photo but she has a bulb keel.

Her genoa is stamped with 'Voilerie Le Rose, Concarneau, 1971":

http://i1280.photobucket.com/albums/a493/amcd300/DSC02354_zps9bb97368.jpg

Interestingly, the original manufacturer is still in business:

http://www.voilerielerose.com/

We don't know anything about her except that she was built for the French military as a training yacht, before being handed across to the yacht club in 2011.

Her name is currently 'Musketeer' although on her sail bags she is shown as 'Pantagruel':

Pantagruel [pænˈtægruːɛl]
(Literary & Literary Critical Terms) a gigantic prince, noted for his ironical buffoonery, in the satire Gargantua and Pantagruel (1534) by the French writer François Rabelais (?1494-1553)

She is generally in good condition, although there are some minor scrapes on the hull and an area topsides that will need to be cut out and replaced due to water damage.

She has been sitting on a swinging mooring unloved for at least 2 years that I am aware of, so it is not surprising that her hull and topsides need a good rub down and re-paint/foul.

I will also have to replace some of the lines as they have been rotting in open sunlight for a while, however the rigging looks sound - which is nice...

Our plan is to install new log/depth and wind instruments, run from a domestic/marine battery charged via solar panel/regulator and fuse bank. We have battery lights for inadvertent night sailing, a radar reflector for safety and VHF DSC radio and antenna to put in also. Loads of other safety gear as you would expect and for a little under 2000 pounds she is a nice little day sailor.

We have a 4hp outboard motor ready to mount on her lifting transom assy.

Any help you can provide in identifying her, or her type, will be greatly appreciated. Encouragement will also be willingly absorbed........

I will keep you appraised of the renovation progress.

Andy
 
Sorry I can't help, but the reverse sheer is quite striking, and with those underwater sections and low wetted area she probably goes quite fast in flat water. Is there a symbol on the mainsail?
 
@Evadne

I will have to raise the main to have a proper look, and will let you know.

We were told by the club 'old hands' that she was built as a racing training yacht so what you say makes sense. I agree that her lines are beautiful and they suggest that she will canter along on a breeze.

As you can imagine I am looking forward to getting her back in the water again in a few weeks so I can find out...

Thanks for the response.

Andy
 
There are some similarities with my first boat, a Challenger 27, French built, I think in Rouen. Their best known boat is probably the Challenger Europe but they did several smaller boats prior to that. The keel is virtually identical with mine and the forward part looks very similar..

Photo here.
AiryFairydry22-7-89.jpg


Scoop stern added, original was reverse sheer. The production version had a long wrap around window but this one was home finished in UK with portholes.
 
Last edited:
Well I never.

It turns out that the name 'Musketeer' held the clue all along. This is not her name, but her type.

She is a 22ft Jean-Jacques Herbulot-designed Musketeer (Mousquetaire, en France). I was told she was 18 ft but felt this was too small having paced her out.

Here is the owner's website:

http://clubmousquetaire.free.fr/fichetech.html

Thank you for all your help.

Will let you know what else I find....

Andy
 
saltylegs said:
Beat me to it I was also thinking a comfy version of the Muscadet by Philippe Harlé as he also did some design for the Glenans
Click to expand...

I almost agree -she looks like a Muscadet hull with a variation on top. The original Muscadet had windows in the hull and was almost flush-decked. I can't imagine the hull was designed by anyone other than Harle with that sheerline but the Muscadet was 21ft long and you say this boat is 18ft. She may be a smaller sister I haven't come across. Could the model name be Musketeer? It has a similarity with Muscadet.

The original manufacturer of the Muscadet was, I believe, Aubin Marine. I am amazed and delighted they are still around. Can they not help?
 
AMCD300 said:
Well I never.

It turns out that the name 'Musketeer' held the clue all along. This is not her name, but her type.

She is a 22ft Jean-Jacques Herbulot-designed Musketeer (Mousquetaire, en France). I was told she was 18 ft but felt this was too small having paced her out.

Here is the owner's website:

http://clubmousquetaire.free.fr/fichetech.html

Thank you for all your help.

Will let you know what else I find....

Andy
Click to expand...

Well, Well! I posted too late. And I was wrong about the designer. Still my guess about the model was right.
 
jamesjermain said:
Well, Well! I posted too late. And I was wrong about the designer. Still my guess about the model was right.
Click to expand...

Spot on, James. Musketeer was the type not the name. Isn't it funny how local knowledge can be twisted from "the yacht, Musketeer" to "the Musketeer"...in Italian translated to English no wonder there was so much confusion.

Having found the Musketeer Owners Website even the Genoa markings are consistent with the branding.

I haven't yet found a hull number of identification plate, but I know her original name so I will try and track her that way.

As you say, not 18' but closer to 22' LOA.

I've never really been a fan of wooden boats like this but I have to say when we pulled her out of the water I was very proud of her.

My colleague is cracking on with her topsides tomorrow and I am going to jetwash (carefully) her hull and sand her down ready for a new anti-fouling on Monday.

I would be there on Sunday but as it is Father's Day I am banned from the yacht club........darn it.

I do believe I've caught the renovation bug......

Andy
 
Nothing like a good scrub on the bottom....

I promised to keep you appraised of the renovation progress on our Musketeer.

I cleaned up the hull yesterday and have her ready to sand down before re-priming and antifouling begins.

A before and after shot:

IMG_3256_zps0f76ae0f.jpg


IMG_3259_zps38bd0b00.jpg


Back to the yacht club on Wednesday for a little light scrubbing.........

Andy
 
Good progress has been made these past few weeks.

Complete repaint throughout, all sheets and halyards replaced, some structural reinforcement works done, new Windex and radar reflector fitted today, broken shackle replaced atop the mast while up there, new fenders, new mooring lines, 7 sails secured and servicing in progress, and ready to lift back in the water next week.

Phew.........

Rather proud of all the work we got done and how good Pantagruel looks compared to when we 'rescued' her from being abandoned on her swinging mooring.

IMG_3406_zps57543590.jpg
 
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