Looking for history of Contessa 34 “JAMES BOND” – Sail No K3895

[Hw1234]

Hello everyone,





I’m researching the early history of my yacht and hoping someone might recognise her.





Boat details:





Contessa 34 (Jeremy Rogers)


Original name: JAMES BOND


Sail number: K 3895


Official number: 700473


Originally sold to: Tri Sail Ltd, Chester


UK Port of registry: Southampton





The yard records also mention Lloyds certificate 210347.





Later known owners include:


Gordon Alexander Gibb (Glasgow)


Alistair Speers (Northern Ireland / France)





The boat is now in the Netherlands and currently named Pegasus, but I intend to restore the original name.





I am particularly looking for:





• early owners or skippers


• race entries or results


• photographs


• confirmation of the original hull number





Given the sail number K3895, I believe she may have raced under the IOR rule in the late 1970s or early 1980s.





If anyone recognises the boat or the company Tri Sail Ltd (Chester) I would love to hear from you.

 

[Tranona]

A good start would be the original buiders who are still in business under the same family ownership jeremyrogers.co.uk

 

[Hw1234]

Thats the first thing I did. They don't have more information than the main information ie sail number, hull number, name and make…

 

[Tranona]

OK then unlikely you will get much help here as this particular forum is not much visited as it is mostly about old wooden boats. Even the main forums might not get much as it is random that anybody remembers anything about one specific boat that has probably gone through a series of owners over 40 odd years. There is no formal requirement to register boats in the UK so the only paper trail is what owners pass on when they sell the boat. However the boat seems to have been on the main (Part 1) MCA ships register - that is what the official Number is, so you could contact the Ships registry in Cardiff to see if they have any record although chances are that it dropped of the register years ago by not being renewed. Best of luck with your search.

 

[Sticky Fingers]

The Registry does keep some archive copies of documents associated with registration. I know this because I have successfully recovered some paperwork relating to my own boat, and its initial registration in the late 1990s. Whether they go back as far as this Contessa would require another question. In order to find out what's available, you have to raise a query with the registry, and pay a search fee.

In my case, the document was archived electronically, so I received a PDF scan of the document, with a certification of authenticity from the registration authority.

For this particular boat, any information available with the registry may prove to be useful, so this is definitely worth exploring.

 

[doug748]

You may already have seen this - James Bond took part in the 1992 Three Peaks Race, Mr Gibb was skipper:

Three Peaks Yacht Race - Race Positions 1977-1999

It's quite possible that he is an architect and advocate based in Glasgow and may respond to a letter posted his business address.

.

 

[Minerva]

You may already have seen this - James Bond took part in the 1992 Three Peaks Race, Mr Gibb was skipper:

Three Peaks Yacht Race - Race Positions 1977-1999

It's quite possible that he is an architect and advocate based in Glasgow and may respond to a letter posted his business address.

.

Blimey. A mad bunch completed that race in an EBoat. That must have been hard going!

 

[RunAgroundHard]

Post number 6 in this thread explains how to access all Part 1 registration outside of UK Ships Register, at Southampton City Council Age of boat

It worked for me. Caveat, my boat was registered at Southampton which is why SCC may have the old registers. If the boat was registered at another port, then the associated council may have to be contacted, but I don’t know if SCC hold all the records or not.

 

[Hw1234]

The Registry does keep some archive copies of documents associated with registration. I know this because I have successfully recovered some paperwork relating to my own boat, and its initial registration in the late 1990s. Whether they go back as far as this Contessa would require another question. In order to find out what's available, you have to raise a query with the registry, and pay a search fee.

In my case, the document was archived electronically, so I received a PDF scan of the document, with a certification of authenticity from the registration authority.

For this particular boat, any information available with the registry may prove to be useful, so this is definitely worth exploring.

Thank you… i have reached out to them

 

[Hw1234]

You may already have seen this - James Bond took part in the 1992 Three Peaks Race, Mr Gibb was skipper:

Three Peaks Yacht Race - Race Positions 1977-1999

It's quite possible that he is an architect and advocate based in Glasgow and may respond to a letter posted his business address.

.

No I didn’t see this before, this is awesome thank you and exactly the typemof thing i am
Looking for!

 

[Hw1234]

Post number 6 in this thread explains how to access all Part 1 registration outside of UK Ships Register, at Southampton City Council Age of boat

It worked for me. Caveat, my boat was registered at Southampton which is why SCC may have the old registers. If the boat was registered at another port, then the associated council may have to be contacted, but I don’t know if SCC hold all the records or not.

Thank you I will reach out to them ! I didn’t know about this option!

 

[ianc1200]

From above, I assume the boat was built before 1980, and is Part 1 Registered. The Lloyds Register last edition was in 1980, but I can't find any reference to James Bond or 700473 in a random check of 64/65/70/75/80 LR's + the Debretts Register of yachts 1983. She could of course been registered some time after she was built, but when was she built?

 

[Hw1234]

So grateful for your assistance…

I received this table for Jeremy Rodgers
Seeing that hull 5 was launched in 83, my guess would be that james bond was build in 1981/82, my MD11 volvo is also from 81 therefore i would start in 1981, where can i find the sources you mentioned ? Than i can also search for information

Magic moon was also in the three peaks race posted earlier

Boat Number	Start of Contessa 34s	Customer Address	Boat Name	Sail Number	Launch Date		Micheal Bowen built cruisers based on OOD 34 but different deck and interior
001			Jay Jay	CO 34 001			Reg no. 700369 Lloyds cert. 210237
002			Lady Grey of Rame	CO 34 002			Lloyds cert. 210345
003			Alstroemeria II	CO 34 003			Reg no. 700507 Lloyds cert. 210346
004	Tri Sail Ltd	Chester	James Bond	K 3895			Reg no. 700473 Lloyds cert. 210347
005			Magic Moon	K 4499	--/05/1983		Reg no. 700552 Lloyds cert. 310216