Classic_Boat_2016-06

NIGEL SHARP

SERENADE

“So I was searching for a suitable boat and I have a

good friend Eric Charpentier, for whom I have a great

respect, and he knows a lot about boats.”

Charpentier approached Mike Horsley at yacht

brokers Edmiston who then presented half a dozen

possible classic boats to the owner. One of these was

Serenade and the owner was “very interested in her as

she is a very curious double-ended design”. A short-term

medical condition prevented him from travelling to

Mystic, Connecticut, to look at her but Horsley and

Charpentier went on his behalf. “It was minus 10°C and

frozen everywhere when they got there,” said the owner,

“but they called me to say that she was a fabulous boat

and that she had great potential. I did not postpone my

decision as I knew I was in competition with several

tough people, maybe including Dennis Conner, and I

started my negotiations to buy her straight away.” Soon

after that Horsley made the arrangements for Serenade

to be on her way: first by lorry to Fort Lauderdale and

then by sea to the Mediterranean, courtesy of DYT

Yacht Transport.

The owner saw her for the first time in Genoa soon

after she was launched from the ship in May 2015. “At

first she was a dot in the distance, but getting larger as

she slowly came towards me,” he recalled. “I was then

very struck by this beautiful boat, slender and as sharp

as a needle. I was very impatient to get on board her.”

Serenade was immediately taken to Sailing Concept’s

yard in La Ciotat for an intense two-month refit which

SERENADE

LOA

61ft 11ins

(18.62m)

LWL

40ft

(12.19m)

BEAM

13ft 4in

(4.08m)

DRAUGHT

8ft 4in

(2.56m)

SAIL AREA

1,510sq ft

(140.3m^2 )

included conversion of the electrics from US to European

standards, renewal of the electronics and the standing

and running rigging, and varnishing. “Sailing Concept

coordinated all the work,” the owner said. “They are

very remarkable and professional people. La Ciotat will

be Serenade’s base from now on.”

As soon as the work was completed, Serenade began

a fairly intensive racing programme, coordinated by

Thibaud Assante, Serenade’s team manager. “We started

with Corsica Classics,” said the owner, “and then we

raced in Monaco, Villefranche, where we won the Pasqui

Trophy, Cannes, where we won the Dorade Elegance

Trophy and now we are here in St Tropez, very happy!”

Future plans include a dozen or so Mediterranean

regattas in 2016 and possibly a subsequent visit to the

UK. The owner also hopes to go cruising with his family.

“My grandsons are around 15 years old and they are

totally mad about the boat,” he told me. “They phone

me every week to ask how we are getting on.” Kim is not

surprised by this early racing success and expects more

silverware to be forthcoming. “She showed great turns of

speed when we had her but we never focused on a

proper campaign as she was used mostly as a family

boat. But Bill Ficker – former Star world champion and

winning skipper of Intrepid in the 1970 America’s Cup

• once said to me that Serenade was ‘indeed a very fast
  boat, more than just a pretty face, a sleeper that only
  needs awakening’.”
  Despite the torrential rain, our race was extremely
  enjoyable. There was a cracking breeze – and to put that
  day’s weather into context, gale force winds had caused
  cancellations on the first two days of the regatta – and
  Serenade is clearly raced very competitively. Her skipper
  is Hugues Boullenger – “a former world champion in
  12-Ms and 8-Ms, a tough skipper but very gentle with
  the crew,” said the owner – who was the starting
  helmsman before handing over to Jeff Lavenant for the
  remainder. The owner demonstrably enjoyed himself as
  well: he punched the air with delight when we got the
  better of the yawl Skylark, even though she was racing in
  a different class. Three of the other boats in our class
  were 12-Ms, more or less the International Rule’s
  equivalent of the Universal Rule N-Class. One of these
  retired and, although the other two – Zinita and Emilia


• narrowly beat us across the line, we leapfrogged them
  on corrected time. “We were third today,” the owner
  said later. “Not bad for a boat we don’t know.”

Above l-r: cracking along in a good breeze but wet conditions at St Tropez last year

On winning form,

with team manager

Thibauld Assante

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