Name Española

1. What is the vessel’s ability to demonstrate history in her physical fabric?

Evidence for designs, functions, techniques, processes, styles, customs and habits or uses and associations in relation to events and people.  How early, intact or rare these features are may impact on significance.

Being commissioned in the reign of Queen Victoria, and launched in 1902, the year after her death, ESPAÑOLA is a fully conserved, essentially intact, operational example of a very early gaff-rigged Edwardian yacht. Her raked stem, together with a long over-hanging elliptical counter-stern, were design features which enabled yachts of this kind to maintain their speed through the water when heeled over in strong winds, because the increase in water-line length compensates for the greater frictional drag. According to the racing rules of the time, yacht length was measured between perpendiculars, so the long counter-stern with a through-deck rudder also gave an added advantage when racing.

ESPAÑOLA is constructed of teak on oak (with pitch pine strakes below the waterline). She is copper fastened, with mainly bronze fittings on deck, and an external lead keel secured with bronze keel bolts. Together, these materials comprise a classic combination much favoured by yacht builders of the Edwardian era.  The majority of the hull strakes are original, as are the frames and ribs, though most of these have been doubled over the years. The main design features are intact, and the overall form of the vessel remains, although she has been re-decked on at least two occasions.

Circa 1959, the vessel’s principal use became cruising-orientated which resulted in the following changes, mostly still in place today: an extension of the skylight to form a low coach-roof for increased headroom, a change in the rig from gaff cutter to bermudan yawl, traditional tackles replaced by bronze winches, and a change in the internal accommodation to a post-war layout (galley aft with chart table opposite, and skipper’s quarters replaced by quarter-berths, engine space and a deeper cockpit).  In 1998, the current owner returned ESPAÑOLA to gaff rig, whilst retaining the yawl configuration. At build, ESPAÑOLA’s propulsion was by sail alone, but her first engine was fitted in 1912 and she now has a 43hp Betamarine diesel engine (1999-present).

Conservation work to the vessel includes: re-splining, caulking, sealing, and fairing-in of all hull seams, re-construction of the stem and counter-stern, replacement of port and starboard teak sheer strakes, fitting of new decks (new beam-shelf, 1” double-ply sub-deck, with ¼” teak laid above) and replacement of copper sheathing using traditional methods. A new mainmast was fitted in 1999 and all spars were replaced in 2008.  The keel bolts were removed, surveyed, and replaced in 2009, with one being renewed.  Her sails are now terylene, but have been triple-stitched with narrow panels and hand-sewn bolt ropes, reflecting her traditional ethos. Epoxy resins have replaced both pitch (in the deck seams) and traditional glues and synthetic running rigging has replaced natural fibre. The original carved “greyhound” tiller head with its Celtic silver collar was scarfed to a new tiller. Her one remaining original carved deck beam and her original bronze rudder stock also survive. The original Simpson-Lawrence windlass has been stripped-down, re-galvanised and rebuilt as new, and her original fore-hatch has been restored.

2. What are the vessel’s associational links for which there is no physical evidence?

Associations with people or places.  Off-ship research.

ESPAÑOLA was the last yacht to be launched at Bond’s Green Lane yard in Birkenhead in the transition period between the Victorian and Edwardian eras.  She has links to the Merseyside area dating from her build and first ownership, which saw her racing with the Royal Mersey Yacht Club, where her half-model is still on display today. ESPAÑOLA was berthed in Ireland from 1912 to c.1952. During this period, she had the distinction of being raced by King Alphonse XIII of Spain (when he visited the Royal Irish Yacht Club in 1912), after which she was renamed in his honour. She was also one of five yachts which founded the Irish Cruising Club at Glengariff in 1929, and her owner, H.M. Wright, was the first Commodore until his death in 1942.  She was a frequent participant in the Irish Sea Corinthian Races during the 1920s and 30s, winning many trophies.

In later life, ESPAÑOLA was based on the East Coast where she took part in cross-Channel races and was subsequently owned by Sir Ian Lloyd, a member of the Royal Yacht Squadron. Throughout her life, ESPAÑOLA’s most frequented cruising grounds have been Wales, Scotland and Ireland, and she has retained close associations to these areas today, particularly to Irish waters and the ports of Dun Laoghaire (Kingstown) and Crosshaven (Queenstown) where she is fondly recalled by the more elderly members of the yacht clubs in those areas. Extensive research has been carried out and the vessel is well documented, including letters, log books and press clippings, with a book published by the current owner on her history and conservation. ESPAÑOLA has been recorded on the National Register of Historic Vessels since 1998.

3. How does the vessel’s shape or form combine and contribute to her function?

Overall aesthetic impact of the vessel, her lines, material she was built from and her setting.  Does she remain in her working environment?

ESPAÑOLA’s shape and form represent the pinnacle of yacht design and construction epitomised by the Edwardian era. Yacht designs during this period were purely based on sea-keeping qualities, sailing ability and aesthetics: flush decks, fine ends, a narrow beam for speed, a huge gaff main, and a long, deep, external ballast keel for stability were the characteristics of yachts of this time. ESPAÑOLA’s 7-ton external lead ballast is typically about fifty percent of the total displacement, and she has a length-to-beam ratio of about 5:1. She also has a raked stem, a feature first popularised by the Royal Yacht Britannia (launched in 1893), earlier yachts having vertical stems. ESPAÑOLA retains her original shape today, with a slight increase in her displacement caused by the additional weight of the engine and other equipment. She retains her gaff rig, and the yawl configuration, though not as striking as the original, is more suitable for short-handed cruising. ESPAÑOLA continues to cruise in full operational condition in the waters where she has spent most of her life.

Source: vessel owner, 22 January 2017.