Mistress Quickly

[Guest]

Does anyone know something about a boat called Mistress Quickly? She was an 10,5m Int.CR. Something about her designer, Arthur Robb? And about her owner Mr. Whitehouse-Vaux?

 

[Jeremy_W]

Bill Whitehouse-Vaux from Bermuda certainly owned (and may still own) a yacht of that name. But the famous "Mistress Quickly" wasn't 10.5m nor was she designed by Arthur Robb. She is 72 foot long, designed by Bob Miller (Ben Lexcen) and was built in Australia as "Ballyhoo" in 1974. As Ballyhoo she won line honours in the 1976 Sydney-Hobart.
Perhaps several yachts for this owner have carried the same name?

 

[Guest]

Yes, the famous "Mistress Quickly" is the second boat of that name, owned by Mr.Whitehouse. The first one, was a 10,5 mtr. Int.CR. I would like to receive information about this first boat, her history, her designer, etc..

 

[dickh]

I saw a Mistress Quickly this weekend coming down the R Deben - about 32' long if my memory serves me. There is also a Mistress Quickly usually moored at Felixstowe Ferry - a 18/20' bilge keeler painted yellow, currently ashore at FF.

 

[Ed H]

I crewed on the original Arthur Robb Mistress Quickly for a summer in the Med, as a kid in the late 60s. The captain was Michael Bruce. Gorgeous boat.
Ed Hamilton

. The skipper

 

[Daydream believer]

. Gorgeous boat.

Cannot argue with that

 

[Bajansailor]

I remember seeing (the second) Mistress Quickly here in Barbados in the mid 70's, when she was originally called Ballyhoo.
She used to be (maybe still is?) owned by an school pal of my sister - they kept her in Italy.

I found this link on Facebook -
Log in to Facebook

They posted this introduction as to what their objectives with Mistress were then, 3 years ago (March 2019) -
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We are re-commissioning this magnificent yacht as a research vessel to look into the problem of plastics pollution in the oceans. Use of this iconic yacht has been generously donated by the owner but it needs some conversion work to make it fit for purpose including replacing the current diesel engine with an ecologically friendly electric hybrid motor and solar and wind battery charging systems to minimise its carbon footprint. We also need additional bunks to accommodate the crew, new sails and some scientific equipment to assist in the gathering and analysis of the plastic waste.
The yacht will be navigating the globe specifically searching out areas where plastics pollution is at its worst. It will be crewed by an all girl crew consisting of scientists, ecologists, film crews etc with the aim of quantifying the scale of the problem, researching possible solutions and spreading the word hoping to influence a many people as possible to refrain from using single use plastics.
The voyage will be split into 30 legs over a 2 years period departing 2020 with 10 volunteers on each leg. As the volunteers are all paying for their trip we are trying to keep costs to an absolute minimum - many of the girls are having to work really hard just to raise the money for their leg and even so the requests to join the expedition have been oversubscribed many times over, showing just how much concern there is about plastics pollution.
This is a non profit making project and any revenue over and above what is required for the re-commissioning cost of the yacht will be transferred to the fund for initiatives aimed at reducing this pollution problem.

 

[Ed H]

To add to my original post, the original Arthur Robb designed Mistress Quickly was of course commissioned and owned by W. White House-Vaux senior, the insurance adjuster. His famous son and his sister (in the first picture) were teenagers. The boat is now called Nerissa and was changed from a yawl to a sloop. The unique coachroof was rumored to have cost as much as the hull. Though Mr Whitehouse-Vaux had plans to race her, she was not ideally suited, but she was indeed a glorious boat. A memorable summer and a taste of my life to come in the Caribbean