Summers Ketch 1897 for sale in Italy

John Leather noted naval architect himself and prolific writer on marine matters considered Arthur Payne to be second to none in the design of fast cruising and racing yachts - the equal of William Fife and GL Watson and ahead of Joseph Soper in this regard - and JAVELIN rightly fits into this category. Leather went on to say how pleased their owners and crews were to be sailing such seaworthy yachts - often with ketch or yawl rigs designed for easy handling. He noted too that the Payne yard had designed and built some of the most beautiful yachts ever to grace the Solent.

At 73 ft on deck and with her divided ketch rig JAVELIN can indeed be easily sailed for a vintage yacht of this size. Assiduously restored in 2006, she is hard to tell apart from the Beken pictures taken a hundred years ago. Indeed her teak and pitch pine hull planking is the original and testament to the quality of design, materials and workmanship of that era. Notwithstanding; modern systems have been discreetly fitted to make her luxurious to live on and a wonderful family boat. More than a century on; with that Beken picture in mind she is moreover haunting to behold.

Brokers Comments

John Leather noted naval architect himself and prolific writer on marine matters considered Arthur Payne to be second to none in the design of fast cruising and racing yachts - the equal of William Fife and GL Watson and ahead of Joseph Soper in this regard - and JAVELIN rightly fits into this category. Leather went on to say how pleased their owners and crews were to be sailing such seaworthy yachts - often with ketch or yawl rigs designed for easy handling. He noted too that the Payne yard had designed and built some of the most beautiful yachts ever to grace the Solent.

At 73 ft on deck and with her divided ketch rig JAVELIN can indeed be easily sailed for a vintage yacht of this size. Assiduously restored in 2006, she is hard to tell apart from the Beken pictures taken a hundred years ago. Indeed her teak and pitch pine hull planking is the original and testament to the quality of design, materials and workmanship of that era. Notwithstanding; modern systems have been discreetly fitted to make her luxurious to live on and a wonderful family boat. More than a century on; with that Beken picture in mind she is moreover haunting to behold.

History

The fine Gaff Ketch JAVELIN was designed in 1896 and launched in 1897 to be included in the 1898/99 edition of Lloyd's Register of Yachts. With sails made by Ratsey and Lapthorne JAVELIN took the second prize in the race from Cowes to Weymouth at the turn of the century.

Arthur Edward Payne, succeeded his father Alfred and elder brother John as owner of the eponymous shipyard at Northam, Southampton. From the early years of the nineteenth century, Paynes had designed and built fast boats - approaching the zenith of their fortunes in the last quarter of it. Contemporary with JAVELIN, were the 65 ft linear racer TUTTY and the smaller cutter GLORIA; both were successful race winners to be followed by several more yachts mainly 52 footers under the Linear Race Rule. The skipper of another contemporary the 62 ft comfortable yet speedy cruiser BANBA declared he’d back her against any vessel in a gale – and she could win her place in handicap racing.

Like JAVELIN Some of his boats famous then are still operational today and include WILLOW WREN a gaff ketch of 1886 a fast pilot cutter built for Lord Philip Patmore for patrolling and hunting down smugglers in the service of the Queen. Another is CARIAD a gaff ketch c 100 ft built for Lord Dunraven in 1896 that in 1898 took part in the Vasco de Gama regatta from Lisbon to India and won it. ARTEMIS a splendid gaff yawl was designed more along the lines of boats more familiar to us today and proved a great winner of regattas especially in Germany.

While Payne was an excellent designer, he was evidently not so successful in business. His shipyard which, in 1890 had become Summers & Payne, was in the early 1900s, taken over again, together with all its workers by Camper & Nicholson and the identity lost.

At the turn of the 19th 20th centuries JAVELIN’s registered owner was: E R T Croxall of Manor Aldridge, Staffordshire who also owned the 9 ton SHULAH. His club memberships were recorded with the Royal Corinthian, Cruising Club, Royal Dorset, Oxford University Sailing Club (VC) and from 1898 the Royal Portsmouth, Corinthian and Royal Southern.

- It was in Mr Croxall’s ownership that JAVELIN won second prize in the Cowes Weymouth race
- 1905 registered to Mr E Steane Price
- From 1905 JAVELIN was in France until 1919 One of the ownerships
- Fromwas that of Philippe de Vilmorin; then president of Cannes YC

Subsequent known ownerships
- 1919 Sir Duncan Hay member of the Royal Yacht Squadron
- 1920 Mr George Howard then as an auxiliary ketch – so with an engine fitted
- 1930 Mr Mark Oliver
- 1938 Mr H R Sidebottom
- 1948 Squadron Leader D Taylor

In 1950 again; the boat moved to the Mediterranean It’s known she was registered at the Real Club Nautico of Barcelona but not the name of her owner – and there were links apparently with the Spanish Royal family but these are unsubstantiated. In his book “Down Below – Aboard the World’s Classic Yachts” Matthew Walker refers to her ownerships – in 1971 in Barcelona and sometime thereafter by Emyr W Davies, whose custodianship was to good effect in preserving her and historic artifacts at the time.

Much later in 2002, she was found totally abandoned in the port of Soto Grande near Gibraltar, her name having been changed to JAVELIN OF NORTHAM. It was there that Hervé Decker in charge of the Sailing Channel for Spain and Morocco – the European satellite television station specialising in the world of sailing – saw her and fell in love with her.

Mr Decker realised immediately the boat was of immense interest and that her resurrection could be a great story to document and to present to enthusiasts. First however he needed to find a person capable of understanding her hidden value and prepared to finance the restoration. After several months he identified and contacted an Italian entrepreneur, also a fine sailor and a great enthusiast for vintage boats, who immediately perceived the importance of JAVELIN. Within a few months she was purchased and after careful consideration the decision made to undertake most of the restoration in Spain so the boat would be spared the stress of transportation elsewhere.
It was there where it had been for more than a century; a silver shilling, coined in 1884 was wedged into the bottom of the oak step of the mainmast. As protection for warding off bad luck, it had worked well if, at the start of the new century, it saw light again before returning once more to its home under the new mast.

More recently JAVELIN has been awarded the prize for La Belle Classe at Monte Carlo

Construction

- Carvel teak topside planking and pitch pine below waterline on oak frames

Accommodation and Domestic Equipment

Summary
- 4 x Guests sleeping in aft master cabin with en-suite and twin guest cabin with en-suite
- 12 x Guests for day cruising and 3 x crew in forward cabin with en suite
- Doghouse with banquette seating each side
- Flag locker fwd
- 8 companionway steps down
- At foot moving forward doorway to saloon

Saloon
- Settees to port and stbd
- Original gimballed dining table offset from centreline to stbd
- Glazed cabinets for drinks and glasses port and books stbd side
- 3 x Plate fiddle fronted locking lockers
- Lockers with glazed doors and drawers under each side
- Faversham solid fuel stove on centreline
- Butterfly hatch over deck head
- 4 x Original deck head lights
- Original lights on centre bulkhead
- Doorway access stbd fwd

Twin guest cabin and en suite
- 2 x Berths up and over
- Lemon squeezer prism light in deck head
- Deck head light
- 2 x Reading lights
- Head compartment with butterfly skylight over
- Automatic Tecmar WC, shower and basin
- Re enter saloon and take 2nd doorway fwd to port

Galley with lemon squeezer lens and 3 deck head lights
- Gimballed 3 burner hob
- Samsung Combi microwave
- Stainless steel sink with mixer tap
- Frigoboat fridge
- Aqua Pura filter for fresh water from tank
- Stowage for crockery, utensils, provisions in lockers above and below worktops
- Access forward

Forecabin for crew
- 2 x Cot berths; one each side
- 2 x Hard berths with stowage under each side
- Stowage lockers and chain locker fwd
- Raw teak ladder to raised hatch in deck head
- 4 x Deck head lights

En suite aft to stbd
- Tecma automatic WC
- Stainless steel wash basin with hot and cold taps
- Shower and mixer tap
- Lockers
- Butterfly hatch over

Aft through galley and saloon

-Pantry by companionway steps with large fridge freezer and space for laundry

Chart table
- Navigation and systems instruments
- Pilot’s seat facing aft to port
- Tank gauges

Aft to Master cabin
- Pitch pine cabin sole, mahogany joinery and organic painted deck head
- 2 x Large berths with drawers under and narrow chesterfield banquettes each side inboard
- Desk amidships
- Large hanging locker wardrobes each side
- Side glazed skylight hatch over
- 2 x Reading lights
- Picture and light

Rig Spars and Sails

- 380 Sq m sail area; sails by Parovel Trieste and in as new condition
- Flying jib
- Yankee
- Staysail
- Main sail
- Main topsail
- Mizzen sail
- Mizzen topsail
- Covers for all deck furniture
- Covers for rail cappings

Deck Equipment and Ground Tackle

From aft
- Varnished teak capping on raw teak bulwark facing inboard
- Bronze stanchions from aft to doghouse fwd each side
- Bronze fairleads each side
- Hand stitched leather covered ash main sheet blocks
- Mizzen running backstay tackle, all ash Pichetto blocks with leather protection
- LVJ 140 bronze electrically controlled multi-purpose winch abaft helmsman’s seat
- Helm position with shore power, nav light switches under seat
- Bronze banded original ships wheel
- Brass binnacle containing Merrill steering compass
- Engine controls mounted in teak box to stbd
- Engine instrumentation
- Autopilot
- Cylindrical varnished teak hatch to lazarette containing well organised workshop
- Mizzen secure line rail
- 2 x Teak and bronze cleats
- Single spreader mizzen mast with gaff rig spars
- Bronze pin rail each side between cap and lower shroud bases
- Galvanised steel main sheet horse all ash blocks with hand stitched leather covers
- Top mast back stays with leather covered ash blocks
- Raised skylight hatch over aft cabin with seating
- LVJ bronze winches each side for running backstay lowers with leathered ash block tackles
- LVJ bronze staysail sheet winches each side
- Steel davits for tender with ash block tackles
- Varnished teak doghouse with butterfly hatches port and stbd
- Bronze cowl vents fwd each side of seat facing for’ard with gas locker under
- Butterfly hatch over main saloon
- Bronze nun’s bonnet fairleads foresail sheet fairleads in deck each side
- Lemon squeezer decklights each side
- Bronze mushroom vents
- Raw teak and bronze pin rails for peak and throat halyards each side; leathered ash blocks
- Galvanised bottle screws to chain plats outboard
- Single spreader main mast with fitted top mast
- 4 x Teak and bronze cleats at base on deck
- Galvanised mast band at goose neck
- Pin rail / rack
- Lazy Jacks
- 2 x LVJ 140 bronze electric jib sheet winches
- Butterfly hatch skylight over galley and heads fwd
- Raised hatch over forecabin
- 3 x Life rafts on deck surrounding hatch
- Teak boarding ladder
- Very large Fisherman’s anchor stowed on teak blocks on foredeck
- 2 x additional anchors and 2 x 80 m chain
- 2 x LVJ bronze winches and capstan
- Bowsprit with whiskers
- Teak and ash blocks and cleats
- Teak and bronze fairleads each side
- Bruce anchor on bow roller over stem

Mechanical Electrical and Tankage

- 2 x Steyr 166 HP @ 2600 rpm
- Fuel consumption 10 LPH, cruising 8 knots, max 10 knots
- Yanmar / Balmar 13 HP 24 VDC gen with alternator generator maintains battery charge
- Sonnenschein 800 A batteries – housed under port settee in saloon
- 24 V DC circuits and isolator panel – at Nav station
- Victron 3500W /220 V inverter
- Shore power
- Spectra 250 l/H desalinater watermaker
- Fuel 2,000 litre
- Fresh water 4,000 litre

Navigation Communication and Electronics

- Furuno GPS radar and plotter
- Furuno echo sounder
- Electro mechanical autopilot; Furuno compass with original Thomas Reid & Sons steering gear
- Schatz clock, barometer and hygrometer
- Furuno VHF radio

Safety

- 1x Custom 12 tender 50 HP engine

Restoration and Refit details 2006

To restore a boat means bringing it back to a new life without changing its soul or character. All the work on JAVELIN has been based on this principle and any necessity to make concessions to modern times kept as discrete as possible. Original features such as the lady's bath in the master cabin and a fireplace in the saloon contribute to JAVELIN’s period credentials.

When JAVELIN was acquired, the 60 mm thick planking; teak for the topsides and pitch pine for the bottom; was found to be in perfect condition:

The dog house, the various skylights, hatches and all deck fittings were equally in perfect condition.

What was in need of a great deal of work was the structure. This had suffered seriously from the action of the numerous iron fittings that over the hundred years, had led to the deterioration of the oak frames. It was therefore decided to take drastic action and replace these almost in their entirety with frames in chestnut oak from Galicia and the beams in white pine.

The deck was replaced in Burma teak and the spars of Douglas fir certified clear quality to Spars & Masts standard.

For the fittings; all those existing pieces considered to have been original were preserved and re-utilised: companionway, doors, map table, locks, lamps, mouldings and the like whilst, for the newly constructed fittings, Honduras mahogany was used and its origin was certified as environmentally friendly by the forestry authorities.

Accepting that at launch, she was engineless, installation two engines and two screws with hydraulic transmission give the boat both speed and manoeuvrability. The installation has deliberately not interfered in the slightest with the interior layout of the boat which remains as original as is the helm.

Similarly the electronics, an essential requirement nowadays are pretty well invisible except when actually in use. While there are modern conveniences in the galley and the bathrooms, the restorers did not want to relinquish the Victorian style – so for example the master bathroom still boasts a bath tub, very much the status symbol for a lady of that era. The saloon, with many period fittings, is further enhanced by the reintroduction of the fireplace; fitted when the boat was built but lost in later years. In Beken’s photo of the period the chimney pot is clearly visible on the deck.

While the sails replicate in the closest detail those of the 1897 rig, the running rigging has been assisted by the use of electric winches - but strictly in bronze as is all the hardware on deck. The original hardware in forged steel for the masts has been treated and retained

Once the major works to the structure and hull had been completed the boat was transferred to the Shipyards of Monfalcone Alto Adriatico, where fitting out was done by Paola Moretto under the guidance and direction of Faggioni, with Carlo Sciarrelli also contributing to the interior restoration design

Other Equipment

JAVELIN