Classic Boat – May 2018

The 1938 motor yacht Peganda is receiving a ground-up structural

rebuild. Her design is not known, but she appears in the 1939 Lloyd’s

Register, which gives her length (44ft 10in/13.7m) and builder –

Humphrey and Smith of Grimsby. The register calls her an ‘aux ketch’

and today there is still the vestige of an auxiliary rig. The original

theory is that she went to Dunkirk for Operation Dynamo, but

Dynamo expert John Tough thinks this is unfounded.

E-Boatique, a new service to electrify boats, was launched at the 2018

London Boat Show in January and is open for business. The person

behind it is Gillian Nahum, owner of Henley Sales and Charter on the

River Thames. Gillian has been promoting, chartering and selling

electric boats since the 1980s, and is a firm believer in this technology

that has been used for marine propulsion since the 19th century.

See eboatique.co.uk to learn more.

TURKEY

Pre-war motoryacht

UPPER THAMES

Electrifying

C/O THE OWNER C/O E-BOATIQUE

LUNENBURG, CANADA

Fife’s finest in town for a refit

Local yacht spotters are accustomed to seeing some pretty exotic
craft in Nova Scotian waters, but the arrival of the William Fife 1936
yacht Latifa in Lunenburg this summer was especially noteworthy as
the 70ft (21.3m) is regarded by many (and was by Fife himself) as
his greatest creation. She’s out for a substantial refit at Blue Rocks
Timber Framers (BRTF). At 2017 Antigua Classic Ycht Regatta,
Dorian Steele, principal of BRTF, was crewing aboard the schooner
Columbia, enjoying the rigging he and his team had built and put on
the vessel. While there, they crossed wakes with Latifa, raced to
good results in the regatta, while also winning the Concours
d’Elegance prize in class. Conversation soon established that BRTF
and the Lunenburg marine community had the full range of skills to
refit Latifa for her next adventure: a circumnavigation. A favourable
exchange to the Canadian Dollar sealed the deal and Latifa headed

north. Her teak on steel structure is sound, but a prudent look at

every system on the boat was needed. BRTF replaced all seven iron

tanks with stainless steel and the vessel was extensively re-plumbed.

All 20 through-hull fittings were replaced, some of them original! The

electrical system was modernised and the twin engines rebuilt.

The refit is now focused on the interior. The intention is to match

her fine joinery in materials and finish while providing a better nav

area, adding to stowage and improving flow, to reduce the

Edwardian sense of a professional crew stashed forward in the

fo’c’sl isolated from the owner’s party. The rig is of the vessel for

re-finishing of the spars and replacement of any suspect

components, including machining new bronze fittings where

needed. A clinker-built tender will also be built. The intention was to

re-launch Latifa by May. Rich Morrow