History
Merrymaid is, without question, an extremely important yacht, being designed by the world-famous Charles E Nicholson and built by Camper & Nicholson. At 116 years old, Merrymaid is one of the oldest C&N yachts still sailing today.
Built in 1904, Merrymaid has had an eclectic life. Originally built for Thomas Hardcastle and raced in the Solent with fellow big boat class members such as White Heather, Creole, Metor and Lulworth. She was the star of the show winning the King’s Cup in the presence of King Edward VII that year. Mr Hardcastle then went on to sell Merrymaid in 1905. By 1908 he had purchased her back, keeping her for further 10 years. 1914 was the year that many of the large yachts were laid up for the First World War. Merrymaid was laid up in a Norweigian Fjord. After the war, in 1919, she was acquired by Elizabeth Workman.
Mrs Workman restored Merrymaid’s rigging back to its original design and campaigned the yacht in the big boat class against the likes of the Royal Yacht Britannia and Lulworth. During this time Elizabeth worked closely with Charles Nicholson to develop a Bermudian rig which helped her already impressive performance. It should be noted that Merymaid was one of the first British yachts to have been rigged this way.
In 1929 she enjoyed a relaxed few years while cruising with Sir Thomas Royden with the occasional race regatta. The Second World War broke out and, like her fellow yachts, she was laid up for a second time, this time in Tollesbury, Essex. Merrymaid contributed to the war effort in her own way, her lead keel was removed for the production of bullets.
It was 1945 that Merrymaid was towed around to the Solent and moved to a mud berth in the River Hamble alongside the famous J Class Yachts, Endeavour, Velsheda and Lulworth, but it wasn’t long before she was returned to Essex and put into a mud berth on the Blackwater River, Essex to become a houseboat for Roy Squire.
Merrymaid’s life as a houseboat was long, some 49 years. The Squire family used Merrymaid as a second home and managed to preserve her, fixing leaks and keeping her from sinking into the mud. It was at this time that many of the large sailing yachts of this era were lost but due to the dedication of the Squire family, Merrymaid survived.
In 1994 Merrymaid’s fortunes turned a corner. She left her mud berth for the first time in over 50 years and was taken to Heybridge Basin in Essex where she patiently waited to be restored. In 2001 Didler Waechter purchased Merrymaid for restoration but sadly he passed away soon after and the restoration came to a halt in 2003.
2004, Merrymaid was seen in St Tropez partly finished and was purchased by her current owner in 2005 and taken to Southampton Yacht Services. Her restoration was completed using 21st century technology but keeping her original lines and beauty, making her a yacht capable of cruising in style and comfort. It was in 2007 that Merrymaid left Southampton with an extremely delighted owner, who then started the next, and what can only be described as exciting, chapter of Merrymaid’s life. She set off on a 3 year tour of the world. She became the first gaff cutter to navigate the North West passage and visited some of the most remote and fascinating corners of the globe.
Upon her return, Merrymaid stopped in at Southampton Yacht Services and underwent a cosmetic overhaul to freshen her up ready for her tranquil life in the Mediterranean where she has been based for the past 10 years. Merrymaid is an extremely important part of the yachting world, with over a century of enthralling history. Her next custodian will not only be proud to own her but will enjoy preserving her history and making new memories.
General Specification
Accommodation
A charming interior is configured to allow sleeping for six guests in three en-suite cabins; a large master suite is in the aft and twin cabins on both port and starboard. In the bow of the Merrymaid there are three cabins allowing accommodation for six members of crew.
An extremely cosy saloon has two sofas and a dining table (on a ride and fall mechanism), there is wonderful lighting which comes through her central skylight. Gas fireplace and entertainment centre gives this space a wonderful ambience.
Electrics
230v 50Hz AC / 24v DC
Dryfit A600 2v Gel cells with 1500ah/20 hr
Engine/Services separated and with parallel switch
24v separate DC bank for the NAV & COM with parallel switch
Mastervolt inverter 2.5kVA
Galvanic isolator
Mastervolt 100 amp battery chargers
Navigation Equipment
Furuno NavNet 3D System
SAT C
Radar with ARPA
Chart Plotter
AIS unit
Fleet 33 BGAN
Iridium remote distress alarm
B&G H3000 wind instruments with XDR fins
B&G H3000 Auto Pilot
Interphase forward-looking sonar
Furuno Navtex, Furuno GPS back up unit
2 x VHF DSC fixed units with independent aerials
MacMurdo 406GHz EPIRB with GPS, 2 x S.A.R.T.
2 x Iridium Motorola 9505A
Max Sea Weather Routing Software
Full catalogue of world charts, paper and electronic
Services
Mikuni diesel Heating
2 x Sea Fresh water makers
AC unit 200 litres per hour
PTO Hydraulic 200 litres per hour Hot Water
2 x C-Warm CWB78-VTC at 78 litres each with twin coils and double Heater elements Fuel Control Duplex Racor Filter to engine
Simplex Racor filter to generator
Flexible armoured hose used for all pipe work
Manually operated fuel cut offs to feeds and returns
Engine/Mechanical
Perkins Sabre, M265TI, MAX RPM 2200, Six Cylinders, 265 Hp
Consumption at RPM:L/h 1200:8.0, 1400:10.0, 2000:27.0
Onan Generator 17.5kVA - 80 amps max (consumption 3.4L/h at 40 amps for 5h per day) Engine driven alternator 150 amp
Gearbox PRM 1000 connected via Carden shafts to an Aqua Drive-CVB-32-30 thrust bearing Deep Sea seal on the inboard end of the stern tube
Tankage
Diesel 1400 litres (Bladders giving an extra 1000 litres)
Water 800 litres
Range 1120NM at 1400RPM, 1920NM with Bladders
Hamann chlorine waste system with 1 x 250 litre holding tank
Deck Equipment
Meissner Winches
4 x CMB 36 power
3 x CMBH manual
2 x 28-STB-47 self-tailing
Spars
Spars by Collars
Lower Mast: 22.40m/73’.49” Columbian Pine
Top Mast: 12.40m/40’.68” Columbian Pine
Boom: 19.00m/62’.34” Columbian Pine
Mainsail gaff: 11.00m/36’.10” Sitka Spruce
Bowsprit: 8.00m/26’.25” Columbian Pine
Spreaders: Ash
Sails
Sails by Contender in Dacron
Total: 953m2
Working: 483m2 (7,911sf)
Main: 220.5m2
Spinnaker (MPS): 252.8m2
Trysail: 72.5m2
Staysail: 57.3m2
Staysail Strom: 30.0m2
Jib Yankee: 87.1m2
Jib Working: 48.1m2
Jib Top Large: 61.9m2
Jib Top Small: 27.9m2
Top Sail Large: 55.8m2
Top Sail Working: 39.5m2
Ground Tackle
Thomas Reid hydraulic windlass with double gypsy
Bronze Fisherman Anchor 140kg
CQR Anchor 108kg
14mm stud link chain 140m and 60m
Tenders/Toys
Classic Sailing Dinghy, built by Butler and Co (Merrybaby) Zodiac Pro 7 Man, 4.30m, Evinrude E tech 50hp
Quicksilver Inflatable dinghy, 3.40 m , 4 hp Mercury outboard 2 x Scuba Sets with Bauer Junior II Compressor and accessories
Safety Equipment
Fire Fighting
Two 2” fire hydrants in the covering boards forward and aft
FE-227 manually operated extinguisher in the engine space
Machinery space intake/exhaust ventilation with manual/automatic shut down
Exhaust ventilation with automatic shutdown
Heat and smoke detectors in machinery space, lazarette and galley
Gas alarms below galley, saloon, galley bilge and aft bilge
2 kg Co2 extinguisher in galley/crew area
8 handheld extinguishers located throughout vessel
Safety
3 x Zodiac 8-man Liferaft with A Pack
MedLink WorldWide Service and MedLink MCA class A Kits
Ship’s Medicine Chest w/ Rx 3.0
First Responder Kit w/ Rx 3.0 x 2
Philips FRX Defibrillator
12 x ‘Kru’, self-inflating life jackets with harnesses
12 x M.O.B locator beacons (Mobilalarm V100) with EPIRB and onboard alarm