Grimaldis’ discretion worked. There are just a
few paparazzi shots of Europe’s most beautiful
royal children jumping off the side of the yacht
for a swim while Grace watched over them,
happy and unscripted.
Over the years Stalca has changed hands and
home port several times, but she has finally
found a new family. “We were at the Palma Boat
Show in 2015 and went out on a sea trial aboard
Stalca,” says Janet Wotherspoon, her new owner.
“Our good friend Andrew Winch, who we met
through our children, was also in Palma so we
asked if he wanted to come along. At the time we
were looking for a charter and Stalca was just
that: a charter boat that worked the Palma Bay
area. But as we were motoring about it came out
that she could be for sale too.”
“Stalca had just the sort of look that Iain
[Janet’s husband] liked,” adds Winch. “She was
the perfect fit for them, their two children and
grandchild. They liked the history, the balance,
the proportions and the strength of the boat.”
“We had a 74ft fiberglass Fairline Squadron, so
this was a big change,” Janet says. “Andrew was
wonderful with advice throughout the project.”
What everyone agreed on was that it was
important not to be slaves to the yacht’s history,
not to over-emphasize that she was “royal” but to
live on her as Grace would have done:
comfortably, discreetly and, well, gracefully. As
Janet says: “She’s our boat. I love the provenance,
but I’m not going to harp on about it.”
After enjoying a first summer aboard in the
Palma area, the Wotherspoons wanted to take
Stalca beyond the Med, maybe even up to the
west coast of Scotland. Because they wished to
charter the yacht when they weren’t using her,
they decided to bring her up to MCA safety
standards. But when they took the boat to STP
in Palma and hauled her out of the water it
became clear that the assessment done at the
time of sale was a bit optimistic: the refit turned
out to be a rebuild.
“STP has an open management model and
does not dedicate itself directly to the refit, but
to the management of the space and to the
services of lifting, launching, standing and water
and electricity, among others,” says STP
manager Joan Rosselló. “For this reason, we are
positively valued by captains and boat owners
who want to choose specific companies to carryout each job. In the case of Stalca, they
contacted the best specialists in paint, bilges,
plumbing, air conditioning, engines,
electricity, furnishing and interiors for their
refit. Customers appreciate our system
because it allows them to control quality and
their budget.”
For the Wotherspoons, this was certainly a
hands-on project. “For us it was in for a penny,
in for a pound. We wanted
to do a comprehensive job
and have a truly seaworthy
yacht,” Janet says.
“To implement the
MCA requirements for
the yacht, handrails,
stanchions and even
the bow had to be at a
higher position,” Winch
says. “What I did was draw a small profile with
a higher bulwark to show them what it could
look like because Stalca looked rather weak
on the bow. The higher bulwark gives it MCA
safety, but it also makes for a very nice
and discreet foredeck, where you can relax
on loungers, catch the sunshine and no one
can see you.” “And with baby gates at theRight: the large wheelhouse, where an old teak SSB radio box is now a wine cellar. Above right: the original ship’s bell is still in place, bearing the words “Stalca, Monaco”“I’m about the same age
as Princess Caroline and
she was an icon. It’s nice
to think she was on this
yacht, having fun”
PHOTOGRAPHS: GETTY IMAGES; MARK NICHOLSON/WINCH DESIGN