AQUILA exudes the air of well-found attractiveness a professional mariner and skilled shipwright brings to ownership. This wonderfully preserved FINISTERRE development yawl is a very well-travelled and proven yacht, with pedigree second to none: from the drawing boards of master designers Sparkman & Stephens, and one of the last yachts built at Tore Holm's famed Gamleby yard in Sweden. In the words of a recent survey: "AQUILA is completely ready for an ocean crossing", and she will be equally ready to perform as a cherished family cruiser and occasional racer.
Sparkman & Stephens Design No. 1212 It is rare for a yacht owner to have known his vessel for almost half a century, but it is so with AQUILA. In 1976, when she was named OTIAS and owned by Peter Reiner from Nantucket, he was part of her delivery crew for a transatlantic passage to the Azores, and then purchased her in Greece the following year. After extensive Mediterranean cruising he sailed AQUILA to the West Indies and sold her in 1982. But AQUILA held a special place in his heart and he again purchased her in 2014 at Seal Cove Boatyard on Penobscot Bay, Maine, where she had been stored and maintained for the previous 20 years, five or six of them inside. Since then she has enjoyed his shipwright skills in maintenance and blue water experience in use, sailing extensively: down to the Bahamas and further south in 2014 and to the Bahamas again in 2018. In testament to her oceangoing abilities, for a reasonable fee the present owner is prepared to deliver AQUILA to her new owner. The story prior to the mid 1970s is a little unclear. At some point in her life she was named FARAWAY - but she is believed to have been commissioned as AQUILA by a member of the Ellis Drier Co. family of Chicago; possibly Hubert C. Ellis, a member of Chicago Yacht Club. A previous AQUILA owned by Ellis was the 1929 Tore Holm designed and built 30 Square Metre Skerry Cruiser known (also as AQUILA II in Toronto) on the US and Canadian lakes before and after the Second World War, which could explain the fact that the Sparkman & Stephen yawl was built, perhaps for old times' sake, at Tore Holm's yard at Gamleby, 250km south of Stockholm. Certainly, through the 1950s many designs by Sparkman & Stephens and other American architects were built by Scandinavian yards, partly because it made sense financially, and also allowed owners to do Europe and then, via the Atlantic trade winds, take in the Caribbean on the way home. AQUILA's design is clearly a development of Carleton Mitchell's impressively successful and influential 1954 keel centerboard S&S yawl FINISTERRE, winner of the 1956, 1958 and 1960 Newport to Bermuda races - the first of the beamy centreboard yawls that were so competitive in US offshore racing through the 1950s and 60s and into the 1970s, while offering previously unprecedented space and comfort for cruising and passagemaking. This lineage together with her build pedigree by one of the very best Scandinavian yards combines to make AQUILA something very special.
- Double-planked mahogany ½ in & ¾ in - Topsides Brightside painted 2018 - White oak stem, keel, keelson and 2 in x 2 in frames - Monel screwed and copper riveted - Monel diagonal strapping - Monel floors, mast step and centerboard trunk - Lead ballast keel 3.6 tonnes - Bronze keelbolts 1 ¼ in - Bronze centerboard; pivot pin inspected and reinstalled 2014 - Draft, board up: 4 ft 6 in / 1.37 m - Draft, board down: 8 ft 0 in / 2.44 m - Marine ply fiberglassed deck and house roof Awlgriped 2018
FROM AFT - Varnished mahogany toerails - Stainless steel pushpit and pulpit - Stainless steel stanchions in bronze bases AFT DECK - Bronze mooring fairleads port and starboard - 2 x Bronze and wood mooring cleats - Bronze cheek sheaves COCKPIT - Varnished lazarette storage hatch - Mizzen mast bronze aperture in aft seat - Main sheet padeye - Varnished mahogany coamings - 4 x Mahogany plinth-mounted self-tailing Lewmar bronze sheet winches - 2 x Lewmar 54 - 2 x LewmarWide raw teak laid seats all round - Lockers under side seats - access to engine - Bronze half shell vents to engine space - Raw teak cockpit sole - Bronze fuel filler - Bronze centerboard winder to starboard - Engine panel - Helm pedestal at bridge deck - Engine throttle control - Brass binnacle for steering compass - Stainless steel granny bar TRUNK CABIN - Varnished mahogany with painted plywood roof - Varnished grab rail port and starboard - 4 x bronze ports port and starboard - (Of these, opening ports at galley, saloon and wc compartment) - 1 x Bronze fixed port forward - Companionway offset to starboard - Varnished mahogany sliding companionway hatch in garage - Bronze mainsheet track over garage - Bronze Lewmar 16 mainsheet winch to port - Plotter display to port of companionway - Spinnaker pole stowage to starboard - Varnished mahogany/ tinted plexiglass hatch over saloon - Propane bottle locker box aft of mast - Varnished/ plexiglass Dorade boxes with bronze cowls port and starboard - Mast position; bronze aperture - Varnished mahogany/ frosted plexiglass hatch over forecabin SIDEDECKS - Bronze headsail tracks and cars port and starboard on toerail - Bronze water fillers - Bronze spring line Panama fairleads in rail port and starboard FOREDECK - Varnished Dorade box; tinted plexi cover; bronze cowl - Bronze and wood mooring cleats port and starboard - Lewmar bronze electric windlass mounted on double teak baseChain gypsy and rope drum - Bronze hawse pipes to chain locker below - One piece bronze stemhead fitting - Incorporating 2 x mooring fairleads; 2 x custom bronze anchor rollers - Forestay chainplate - 44 lb / 20 kg Rocna bower anchor - 45 lb / 20 kg Bruce anchor spare/ kedge - 250 ft / 76 m chain - Chain to ¾ in / 18 mm rope anchor rode
Varnished mahogany throughout Raw teak sole throughout - Access via 5 x steps down companionway ladder - Access to engine space aft of removable ladder GALLEY TO PORT - 3 x Burner stainless steel gimballed Shipmate propane stove & oven - Granite counter, drawers and lockers under and outboard, gimballed - Drawer storage under - SeaFrost engine-run fridge/ freezer - BD3 SeaFrost 12V RefrigeratorStainless steel sink - Pressure water mixer tap - Back-up foot pump - Locker under - Stowage over - Deckhead light Centerboard housing - Removable mahogany panels over Monel casing NAV STATION TO STARBOARD - Chart table with lift lid stowage under - Chest of drawers under - Analog and electronic instruments - VHF Radio - Seat with stowage under - Stowage outboard and aft FORWARD TO SALOON - Oilskin locker to starboard with shelves outboard - Fiddled shelf over - Traditional US layout - Settee berths port and starboard - Solid leeboards - Pilot berths outboard port and starboard - Reading lamps - Solid upholstered leeboards - Stowage under - Gimballed saloon table - Slatted cabin sides - Sound system speakers - Ship's clock at starboard bulkhead - Sigmar diesel heater; stainless steel flue - Electric fan - Book shelves - Wine glass rack - Smoked plexiglass opening hatch in deckhead - 4 x Gimballed oil lamps with smoke covers - 2 x Deckhead lights PASSAGE FORWARD Double hanging locker to starboard - Fiddled shelf over - Deckhead light WC Compartment to port - Lavac toilet (new) - New hoses; new pump; y-valve to holding tank and deck pumpout - Stowage outboard - Stainless steel sink unit - Stowage under - Pressure water mixer tap - Back-up hand pump FORWARD TO FORE CABIN - V-berth with added panel to make double to port - Storage under, shelves over and seat for v-insert - Open chain/ anchor locker forward - Hull protection at chain locker - Horizontal windlass motor - Step down aft with privacy curtain
MASTS & SPARS - Hollow Sitka spruce masts with fir booms - Mainmast wooded and re-varnished 2015 - Mizzen mast wooded and re-varnishedx Varnished spreaders on main - 1 x Varnished spreaders on mizzen, plus strut - 2 x Lewmar 8 self-tailing on main mast with bronze cleat - Bronze auxiliary winches on main and mizzen masts - Braked winch with Dyneema 9200 lb breaking strength line on main mast STANDING RIGGING - Hayn stainless steel and fittingsBronze turnbuckles - Main mast backstay splits to aft side decks with bronze tensioner - Harken roller furling on forestay - Chainplates rebedded 2020 RUNNING RIGGING - Main halyard new and all sheets except mizzen new SAILS - 8 oz. Dacron fully battened 3 x reef mainsailMizzenNo. 2 Genoa - No. 3 YankeeSpinnaker - Gennaker in sock - HD storm jib Additional sails - Mizzen - Staysail - No. 1 Genoa - Spinnaker CANVASWORK All matching light tan - Dodger with part-leathered stainless steel frame - Full awning - Hatch covers with clear lights - Full cockpit cushions - Lee cloths - Main sail boom cover - Mizzen sail boom cover (2019)
MECHANICAL - Yanmar 55 hp 4-cylinder 4JH3EFresh water cooled - Max speed 8 kts - 2289 hours - Stainless steel exhaust elbow:1 Reduction - Bronze 1¼ in / 32 mm shaft and coupling (recent) - Bronze stern tubeCutlass bearing newx Blade bronze propeller 17 x 15 (recent) - Edson quadrant steering ELECTRICAL - 12 V DC System - 800 W inverter (recent) - 3 x Group 31 batteriesEngine alternator - Three-way plus master switch at panel - Marine grade wiring (all recent) - LED lights - 20 x Switch panel with separate bilge pump switches - DC amp and volt meters at panel TANKAGE - 40 Gal / 151 L Fuel diesel tank under cockpit - Marine grade fuel lines - Racor filters - 2 x 60 Gal / 227 L Copper water tanks under settees - Polyethylene 25 Gal / 95 L Holding tank under fwd v-berth - Deck pumpout fitting with Y-valve - Stainless steel 3.5 Gal / 13 L hot water tank
NAVIGATION - Danforth Constellation binnacle-mounted compass - Raymarine E7000 Radar with 18” digital dome (recent) - Garmin 742 with Clear View - B&G speed and wind direction - Data Marine knot meter - Data Marine depth sounder AUTOPILOT - ST6000 auto pilot display with Type 2 long linear drive - Raymarine Fluxgate compass and computer (recent) COMMUNICATIONS - Simrad RS35 VHF radio with AIS - Icom M700 SSB radio and AT130 tuner (recent) - Pactor modem (recent) - Gam/McKim split lead antenna
2 x Electric bilge pumps 1 x Henderson manual bilge pump - 8 x Type II PFDs - Horseshoe and MOB pole - Ship’s bell and portable fog horns - Flare kitNav lights - Propane “sniffer” and solenoid at Galley - 5 x Portable fire extinguishers (3 x new 2014)
- Boat hook - Stainless steel folding boarding ladder - Fenders - Dock lines
Owner prepared to deliver AQUILA to the new owner for a reasonable fee
All photos: John Williams
