Classic Boat — November 2017

10 CLASSIC BOAT NOVEMBER 2017

NO6 TEXEL

sailed for many years (“some people like their coffee in

the sun more than a fresh breeze...” as a previous

skipper put it). After a couple of disastrous cruises, the

vessel was taken to yards in Italy and then Palma de

Mallorca, before Andrea decided to embark on a full

restoration at the Atollvic Shipyard near Vigo, in

northwest Spain.

A perfectionist by nature, Andrea tends to become

closely involved with any project he’s working on, and so

it was with Texel. As the yacht was gutted and every inch

of the hull checked and rechecked, her owner flew in

once a month from Rome to Santiago de Compostela to

check progress on his beloved yacht. “Every month the

plane was full of pilgrims,” he says. “They asked me:

‘Are you here for the mystic experience?’ And I

answered: ‘In a certain sense...’”

In the end, most of the underwater hull was replaced

(using welded panels rather than the original riveted

method) while above the waterline it was stripped off

and faired. The interior was reconfigured by Dutch yacht

designer Gerard Dijkstra, and most of the lavish

furniture created by McFadden in the 1930s and Farouk

in the 1950s was taken out and replaced with an airy, yet

still traditional-looking, accommodation. The

deckhouse, which had been extended to include two

guest cabins, was shortened to just aft of the main mast,

and various modern conveniences – davits for two

tenders, air conditioning, watermaker – were fitted. The

bermudan rig, probably acquired sometime in the 1960s,

was dumped and replaced with an exact copy of her

original gaff rig, courtesy of Marijke de Jong at

Cadhead. And, for the first time in more than 70 years,

her hull was painted black and the No6 stitched onto her

mainsail, in a positive reaffirmation of her workboat

heritage. “In the end, we changed everything,” says

Andrea. “It’s like an old palace; you can’t just have one

toilet, and you must have two dinghies, so you have to

compromise. It’s completely different now from when

Farouk had her.”

It’s certainly a dramatic change to the yacht depicted

in photos taken just 13 years ago, and the purist in me

was initially affronted that so much of the old interior

had been removed. But the more I read about King

Farouk, the more I understood the impulse to get rid of

his imprint on the boat and make a fresh start. Also

there’s no denying the current interior is supremely

comfortable and easy on the eye. When a yacht has a

past as rich and varied as Texel, you have to decide

which bits of history to include and which to leave out.

There’s no doubt in my mind that the old Dutch pilots

would be much more at ease in Andrea’s boat than the

one either McFadden or Farouk created.

It is not just for appearance’s sake. Since her

restoration in 2007-8, Texel has crossed the Atlantic four

times, when she put her new square sail to good use – a

sure sign of a serious ocean voyager. Meanwhile, Andrea

and partner Simona have sailed extensively around the

Mediterranean and the Caribbean, with their 80 per cent

Galician crew. For Andrea, the yacht is a distraction

from his work, running a textiles and fashion business

whose brands include Hugo Boss and (until recently)

Valentino.

“It’s a never-ending story,” he says. “Every year

there’s something more. When I’m cruising, I enjoy the

cruise but I’m always thinking about what else needs to

be done. But it doesn’t matter; it’s nice for me.”

It could have been a disaster, this Dutch pilot/

American tycoon/Arab king/Venetian count mash-up,

but what is really remarkable about Texel is how

authentic she feels – regardless of her amazing, mixed-

up history. It’s a testament to Andrea’s vision that he

has overcome the burden of the yacht’s past to create

something that feels both genuine – something those

old Dutch pilots would recognise – and yet somehow

timeless. And that is something to be proud of.

Above, l-r:

Andrea Doná

dalle Rose and

partner Simona

Gambini in the

comfortable new

saloon; Texel has

all the navigation

toys you would

expect on a

21st-century

yacht

Below:

Accommodation

and deck plan of

a 1920s Dutch

pilot schooner.

Note tenders in

the same location

as Texel’s

modern tenders

CB353 Texel.indd 10 26/09/2017 14: