Tanqueray
Well-known member
Bloodhound and Drumbeat 1992
(Credit to Beken of Cowes)
HRH The Duke of Edinburgh RIP
- Thread starter Frogmogman
- Start date
Bloodhound and Drumbeat 1992
(Credit to Beken of Cowes)
Tradewinds
Well-known member
Tanqueray
Well-known member
Lightened it for you - I hope you don't mind.
Cheers - I've got plenty more 'Brightwork' if that's your thing!
Last edited:
Jan Harber
Active member
Good to know that Bluebottle is still going strong.
One of her sailing masters (1953 to 1954), Dick Hewitt, wrote an interesting book called The Royal Dragon, published in 1958. It tells the story of her build in 1948, by Camper and Nicholsons, for an owner who had intended her for the Olympic trials but was unable to do this. She was purchased by Island SC, who had done some crowd funding and raised the money for a Dragon to be presented as a wedding gift to The Queen and Prince Philip.
The book contains a record of Bluebottle's mods and improvements, her helmsmen and crews, and her racing career from 1948 to 1957, during which time she was campaigned all around the UK and Europe from The Solent to Stockholm, plus the Med and Canada. She was often sailed from one regatta to the next, sometimes cross-Channel to Le Havre and Deauville. Other journeys were made on the Camper&Nicholson lorry. In 1955 she went to Copenhagen with five other Dragons onboard Britannia, which apparently had been built to embark both Bluebottle and Coweslip but "no one had envisaged the requirement to hoist on board half a dozen boats". After the racing the British Dragons all returned on the royal yacht to Portsmouth.
Bajansailor
Well-known member
Re Dragons crossing the channel, I remember bumping into the legendary Don Street (who wrote many cruising guides for the Caribbean) at the Brest Classic Boat festival in 1992 - he and his sons had sailed their Dragon there from their home in Glandore in south west Ireland, by themselves (no other boats accompanying them) - I think it took them a few days each way, non stop.
It was not very comfortable - they took turns to sleep under the little cuddy and I don't think they had any hot food during that time.
And Don must have been about 60 then - so long as he had a good supply of Heineken to hand, he was indefatigable!
It was not very comfortable - they took turns to sleep under the little cuddy and I don't think they had any hot food during that time.
And Don must have been about 60 then - so long as he had a good supply of Heineken to hand, he was indefatigable!
Jan Harber
Active member
I forgot to mention that in 1956 Bluebottle went to the Olympic Games in Melbourne where, sailed by Graham Mann, she won a bronze medal for Britain.
Never Grumble
Well-known member
From memory Bluebottle was there at BRNC back in the 80s. We all kept a distance from it as it had god like status. I vaguely remember helping to put a hole in it, undertaking a towing exercise, the towed picket boat gave it a good swipe. Having owned up we never heard another thing, not sure if the Duke was ever informed or whether the college just sorted it out quietly. Happy days
Frogmogman
Well-known member
Sounds like classic Don Street.Re Dragons crossing the channel, I remember bumping into the legendary Don Street (who wrote many cruising guides for the Caribbean) at the Brest Classic Boat festival in 1992 - he and his sons had sailed their Dragon there from their home in Glandore in south west Ireland, by themselves (no other boats accompanying them) - I think it took them a few days each way, non stop.
It was not very comfortable - they took turns to sleep under the little cuddy and I don't think they had any hot food during that time.
And Don must have been about 60 then - so long as he had a good supply of Heineken to hand, he was indefatigable!
Reminds me of a French fellow who I met in Cowes week in either 84 or 85. He had sailed a Dragon up from Saint Malo. I was a bit surprised, as the previous time we had met in 1983, he had a Frers 42 called Ossian (previously Mea Culpa, so called by the legendary Tommy Dreyfus after he had been caught cheating with his previous boat). Ossian was one of that year's French Admiral's Cup team.
I expressed admiration for his intrepid trip up from Saint Malo, but also surprise that he had downsized quite so much. "Aha", he replied, "you have not met my new cheri" upon which he introduced me to a gorgeous young lady. Turned out, his wife wasn't that keen on his new crew, and as she was the one with the money, the sailing budget was not what it had been. Maybe he should have stuck with the name Mea Culpa.....