Cambria’s latest refit at SYS, under the eye
of her long-serving captain Chris Barkham,
is a significant milestone in her story. She is
one of a dwindling number of large classics
that has never had a comprehensive, keel-up
restoration in the modern fashion, which
often involves total reconstruction and very
little if anything original left on board.
Cambria has had her fair share of owners,
and refits, but they have been sympathetic
and respectful to her past, and this
latest work fits in perfectly.
Cambria’s early life was taken up
wrestling with the vagaries of a YRA
determined to keep the King’s yacht
Britannia and the other gaffers competitive
against the bermudan newcomers; launched
for the 1928 season, there are no fewer than
five sail plans drawn by Fife for Cambria before 1932. Contrary to
popular belief, she was and is not a 23-Metre; that class existed
only under the 1st International Rule that had lapsed during
World War I. Under the 2nd version of the rule from 1921, the
largest class rated simply “above 20 metres”, but there was an
elite group of “Big Class” boats that rated between 23 and 26
metres, including two original 23-Metre cutters Shamrock (rated
at 23.8 metres) and White Heather (24.2 m), Britannia (25.8m),
Lulworth (25.8m) and Westward (25.7m), which Cambria initially
joined (rated 23.2m). The YRA imposed restrictions on bermudan
rig but revised them frequently; the first change to a taller mast
for only Cambria’s second season meant a major additional keel
weight was added. In the form of a shoe underneath the original
keel, it had the effect of burying the ends of all the keel bolts
(some emerged in 2015, during the refit, and inspected, proved to
still be in excellent condition). Also, with no specific Rule to
follow, Fife had to build Cambria to Lloyd’s Register’s heavier
ordinary scantlings (to +18A1 class) rather than the racing ones;
that gave her a margin of strength that helped her survive the
relatively few and brief periods of neglect she has suffered, even
after she lapsed from Class. The J-Class eclipsed the Big Class in
the early 1930s; marks on her original lines plan show that
Cambria was at least considered for conversion to rate under the
Universal Rule, but she was somewhat smaller than even the early
Js and it was never done; her destiny was as an elegant cruising
yacht. Apart from an addition of an engine in 1934, and the
adjustment to her ballast keel to compensate, changes were
relatively few. Cambria led a comparatively sheltered life, mostly
in the Med, under a slightly smaller but still imposing cutter rig.
When I first saw her in 1995 she was alongside in Brisbane,
Australia, having a layer of GRP laid over her original yellow pine
deck, in preparation for a new teak deck. I could see that some of
her hatches were original but some had been remade and the
interior was similar; a mix of original detail and later alterations, butall done with care and respect for Fife’s
work. The most obvious change was her rig;
the first drawing of a ketch rig for her was by
Fife in 1932, and Fife’s successor Archie
MacMillan drew a proposal in 1949, but it was
not until the 1970s that she was converted.
The hull was in reasonable order, with
signs of work having been done in the not
too distant past; welded in reinforcement
alongside her riveted original structure, and
some fairly new planks as well. The
suspicion was that the work was fairly
modern, but recent research has shed light
on what had been done. In the mid-1970s
her American owner was attempting a
trans-Atlantic when she was dismasted.
Limping into Gran Canaria, she received a
prolonged refit at Astilleros Canarios
(Astican) that went on until at least 1979. The master shipwright
on site was Pedro Santana, who died in 2012 leaving a few
sketches and notes of his careful work; Harry Spencer, the rigger
and spar maker, and Ratsey & Lapthorn added their talents too.
After the Astican work, she got as far as Australia, then
languished for several years in Townsville, before being bought by
Iain Murray, Denis O’Neil and John David. The Brisbane refit was
quite radical and led by Ian Wright of Norman Wright & Sons;
refastened and GRP sheathed, and with additional steel reinforcing
in way of the masts and chainplates, her ketch rig was retained but
her main mast extended in carbon fibre. She was set up as a
daysailer for the owners, plus just two crew. In practice she was
strong enough for David (by then the sole owner) to ask his
skipper Peter Mandin to ship her up to the UK for the 2001
America’s Cup Jubilee regatta; in the build-up, Harry Spencer
again stepped up and helped execute her rapid conversion back to
cutter rig. In a week full of remarkable sights, that of Cambria in
full flight on the Solent after a 70 year absence was for many the
highlight. Sold once more, she returned to the Med to cruise and
race. A new mast, replacing the one with the carbon extension,
was built ten years ago at La Ciotat with Classic Works; Harry
Spencer, aged 79, was involved again, advising the crew as they
built what is one of the largest wooden masts of modern times
from Alaskan spruce supplied by the Touchwood BV.
It is typical of Cambria that her boom today is a section from
her old mizzen mast; it is in keeping with her whole life, retaining
where possible and renewing with care where necessary, and this
latest refit is all of a piece with that aspect of her life. It is perhaps
easier for beautiful yachts to find caring owners and loyal crew,
but even allowing for this Cambria has been blessed, most
especially in her recent past. She surely looks as good now as she
ever has, and as she prepares to return to the Med there are many
friends and admirers around the globe looking forward to the
next chapter of the story of this remarkable yacht.CAMBRIA’S HISTORY
Sympathetic and respectful to her past
WORDS THEO RYE
BEKEN OF COWESCAMBRIA