CRAFTSMANSHIP
1
Cutting and
preparation of
the planks. Most
planks were
replaced and
hull frames
repaired2
Installation of
first aft section
of the garboard
plankT
he Amico shipyard has relaunched the 1939
ketch Cassiopeia after performing important
hull restoration work. The one-time marble
carrier is now a comfortable superyacht,
having been rescued from what was almost an early and
watery grave. Cassiopeia's Captain Martin Lightoller
said: "The build stopped when war broke out in 1939.
At this time the hull was built, but the boat was not
fitted out and to avoid requisition for the war, she was
taken out into the Bay of Naples and sunk. She was then
re-floated at the end of the war and completed."
Relaunched in 1946 at the Vincenzo Aurilia shipyard in
Torre Del Greco, Italy, the 122ft (37m) ketch has a beam
of 23ft 4in (7.1m) and her hull was originally built with
pine frames and teak superstructure. In the 1960s she was
converted to accommodate nine guests and six crew. Her
current owner took her over in 2010 and since then she
has had three winter refits, one at Classic Works in La
Ciotat and the remainder of the work done at Genoese
yard Amico, previously responsible for major work on
Ocean Glory (a 2016 CB Award winner now named Lady
Hertha), the J-Class Shamrock and Lulworth. The
restoration work was quite unusual particularly due to
the thickness of the planks, which varied from 70mm to
90mm, depending on the area of the hull. The yard used
the traditional method of wetting the planks then
shaping and bending them over an open fire.CASSIOPEIA
BACK FROM
THE SEABED
A modern Genoese yard still capable
of using traditional methods brought
this ketch back to her full glory
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