MELANIE is a beautiful, lightly altered from original configuration throwback to the earliest days of the illustrious German yacht builders Abeking & Rasmussen.
MELANIE is a beautiful, lightly altered from original configuration throwback to the earliest days of the illustrious German yacht builders Abeking & Rasmussen. Designed by Henry Rasmussen seven years after he founded the Bremen yard with Georg Abeking – could she be the oldest surviving cruiser-racer by the famous Bremen yard? She exists today courtesy of sixty years consistent ownership and loving care by a club syndicate that has introduced countless future sailors to the joys of classic offshore sailing and racing. MELANIE offers either the opportunity to enjoy simple, low-cost sailing in a truly elegant classic yacht with the best of provenance, or to be the subject of a major makeover reverting to the original perfectly proportioned gaff yawl rig.
Brokers Comments
MELANIE is a beautiful, lightly altered from original configuration throwback to the earliest days of the illustrious German yacht builders Abeking & Rasmussen. Designed by Henry Rasmussen seven years after he founded the Bremen yard with Georg Abeking – could she be the oldest surviving cruiser-racer by the famous Bremen yard? She exists today courtesy of sixty years consistent ownership and loving care by a club syndicate that has introduced countless future sailors to the joys of classic offshore sailing and racing. MELANIE offers either the opportunity to enjoy simple, low-cost sailing in a truly elegant classic yacht with the best of provenance, or to be the subject of a major makeover reverting to the original perfectly proportioned gaff yawl rig.
History
- DESIGNED BY HENRY RASMUSSEN
- ABEKING AND RASMUSSEN DESIGN NO.
- ABEKING AND RASMUSSEN BUILD NO.
It says a lot about the instant productivity of the yard founded in 1907 at Lemwerder, Bremen by Georg Abeking and Henry Rasmussen that 547 contract numbers elapsed in the five albeit mostly wartime years between the design for this very pretty fast-cruiser yawl, the building of the first yacht to it - DELPHIN of 1914 (A&R #396) - and the completion in 1919 of the 2nd, #943, now MELANIE but launched as WULP (Dutch for Curlew).
WULP was commissioned with sails by Ratsey & Lapthorn of Gosport and Cowes, England, and a 2-cylinder petrol auxiliary motor by Magnet-Motoren AG of Berlin. Her home mooring was at Middelburg, Netherlands, under the first ownership of G.H Brandt of Utrecht who kept WULP into the early 1930's, latterly together with the 1911 Max Oertz International 12-Metre DAVO III, which he renamed WULP. The potential naming confusion moved to another level on our WULP's sale by 1935 to Belgian shipping agent A.E. Geubelle of Antwerp who renamed her SAMPAN, and her previous owner, Mr Brandt, replaced her with a steel motor yacht or launch - also named SAMPAN.
The Belgian period as SAMPAN was short lived, and any idea that that she has subsequently spent most of her life on the south coast of England as a 'Windfall Yacht' is dispelled in the knowledge that by 1938 she was in England, named SUNDEW under the brief ownership of Westminster, London-based yacht broker R.A. Nicholson, who may have had a habit of purchasing yachts he thought he could sell.
Nicholson turned her round quickly to Walter G. Hubbard of Strand-on-the-Green, Chiswick, whose family controlled the London bank note and postage stamp printers/engravers Perkins, Bacon & Co., most notable for their pioneering work in printing the 'Penny Black'. Hubbard was a member of the Royal Southern Yacht Club, very recently relocated from Southampton to the River Hamble, where it may be safe to suppose the re-named MELANIE would have been moored.
On the settlement of his father, master printer Arthur Hubbard's estate, in 1949 Walter Hubbard moved up in size to the Robert Clark designed 70 ft bermudan cutter TRESCA, and MELANIE was sold in 1949 to J.R. Fox of Doncaster, Yorkshire and Haywards Heath, Sussex, a member of Scarborough Sailing Club and the Royal Motor Yacht Club, Poole.
Subsequent owners through the 1950s were:
1955
- Capt. I.G.W. Grant, Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire
- of Little Ship Club & Royal Ocean Racing Club
1958
- Richard A.W.G. Clayton & Christopher J.V. Davis
1958
- Sir Eric Seal KBE CB
- Mooring: Itchenor
Sir Eric Seal (1898–1972), then Commodore of the Civil Service Sailing Association (CSSA), had been a very senior civil servant; betweenPrincipal Private Secretary to Winston Churchill during two of the most crucial years in UK and world history.
After a significant refit, a syndicate ownership system was then set up so that MELANIE could provide an opportunity for people of all ages and backgrounds from the British Civil Service and associate bodies to learn and experience offshore sailing. This has continued ever since, with some early syndicate members still involved, and Sir Eric's family retaining a share in MELANIE until 1999.
Over the past sixty years - all of it in bermudan (yawl - briefly cutter) rig, rather than the original gaff yawl rig after a c.1963 dismasting - MELANIE has been loved used and cared for, eventually as part of the CCSA's Portsmouth Offshore Group (POG). A regular attendee at the Cariad Cup, Cowes, the Weymouth Jolly and the POG Nab Race, as well as Island Sailing Club's Round The Island Race (a class winner in the 50th Anniversary edition), MELANIE has also participated in the Festival of the Sea at Portsmouth Royal Dockyard, and the Brest Festival, as well as cruising to France, the Channel Islands and the West Country.
©2021 Iain McAllister/ Sandeman Yacht Company Ltd
Restoration / Refit
2020
- New mizzen mast by Noble of Bristol
2011
- New Beta engine installed by Gosport Boatyard
BY GWEEK QUAY BOATYARD, CORNWALL
- Many steel frames replaced; zinc coated
- Floors replaced in way of ballast keel
- New wrought iron keelbolts
- 2 x New sheathed short stainless steel keelbolts fwd
- Majority of bottom planks replaced in pitch pine
c1995
BY OWNERS
- Original deck and many deck beams replaced
- New 12mm Plywood sub deck
- Teak straight laid deck over, bedded and caulked in epoxy
Construction
- Pitch pine underbody
- Mahogany topsides
- On alternate steel and oak frames
- Iron ballast keel
- Composite teak laid over plywood deck
- Mahogany superstructure
Deck Layout, Equipment and Ground Tackle
GENERAL
- Varnished toerail
- Teak laid deck on plywood substrate
- Galvanised painted stanchions
FROM AFT
- Bronze fairleads at taffrail port and starboard
- Stainless steel pushpit
- Gas bottle box with stern nav light
MIZZEN MAST POSITION
- On painted galvanised deck-mounted step over rudder head
- Painted galvanised mooring cleats port and starboard
- Raised lazarette hatch
- Believed original iron tiller with wood handle
COCKPIT
- Elegant low coaming with bronze cap
- Slatted cockpit seating port and starboard
- Mainsheet traveller; wooden blocks
- Bridge deck
- Engine control
SIDE DECKS
- Bronze and teak 'Clyde' cleats port and starboard
- Custom bronze running backstay levers
- Galvanised headsail winch plinths port and starboard
- Sheetmaster headsail winches port and starboard
LOW PROFILE TRUNK CABIN
- Mahogany uprights
- 2 x Fixed ports, port and starboard
- Original sliding companionway hatch
- Pull handle and portlight
- Butterfly skylight hatch over saloon
- Chocks for liferaft
- Butterfly skylight over WC Compartment
- Varnished teak handrails port and starboard
MAIN MAST POSITION
- Deck stepped on painted galvanised tabernacle
- Painted galvanised pinrail
FOREDECK
- Raised forehatch
- Painted galvanised Samson post
- Painted galvanised bowsprit heel
- Painted galvanised and stainless steel gammon irons
- Bronze mooring fairleads post and starboard
- CQR anchor on bow roller
- Stainless steel pulpit with nav lights
Accommodation and Domestic Equipment
GENERAL
- Berths for up to 7
- 4 x Steps down to engine box
- Believed original ladder
- Original white painted panelled bulklheads
- Believed original teak cabin sole
- 4 x Bulklhead lights
FROM AFT
GENEROUS QUARTER BERTHS
- To port and starboard under cockpit
GALLEY TO STARBOARD
- Voyager 2 x burner hob with oven
- Stainless steel sink
- Plate and food lockers
CHART TABLE TO PORT
- For full size charts
- Navigator's seat
- GPS
- B & G Depth gauge
- VHF Radio
- Car radio-CD
FORWARD TO SALOON
- Settee berths port and starboard
- Stowage behind seat backs
- Shelving port and starboard
- Roll-away pipe cots over settees
- Stowage bag s for cots
- Saloon table
- Butterfly skylight hatch in deckhead
FORWARD TO WC COMPARTMENT
- Via varnished panelled mahogany door
- Manual Lavac toilet
- Stainless steel sink
- Extensive shelving for ship's stores
- Substantial compression post for main mast loads
- Butterfly skylight hatch in deckhead
FORWARD TO FO'C'SLE
- Berth to port
- Sail and lines stowage
- Outboard motor stowage
- Chain locker
- Forehatch in deckhead
- 1 x Deckhead light
Rig, Sails and Canvaswork
RIG
- Main mast - double spreaders
- Attractive period halyard winch
- Main boom
- Mizzen mast - single spreaders
- Mizzen boom
- Bowsprit with stainless steel spreaders
SAILS
- Mainsail (Lucas 2014/15)
- Mizzen (Lucas 2014/15)
- Staysail
- No. 1 Jib (Lucas 2014/15)
- Genoa
- Mizzen staysail
CANVASWORK
- Spray dodger
- Mainsail and mizzen boom covers
- Cockpit cushions
- Pipe cot bags
Mechanical, Electrical and Tankage
MECHANICAL
- Beta B30 3 cyl 30 hp Diesel (2011)
- Flexible coupling
- Bronze shaft
- 3-Bladed fixed pitch bronze propeller c.15” x 9”.
ELECTRICAL
- 2 x Lead acid batteries with selector switch
TANKAGE
- 30 Gal/ 136 L) Nylon/ PVC diesel tank below cockpit
- c. 30 Gal/ 136 L Water tank
Navigation, Electronics and Communication
ELECTRONICS/ NAVIGATION
- Garmin 128 GPS Plotter
- B&G depth gauge
COMMUNICATIONS
- ICOM IC-M421 VHF/DSC Radio
Safety
- Plastimo canister liferaft
- Life Ring
- Fire extinguishers
- Manual bilge pump
- Electric bilge pump
Disclaimer
These particulars have been prepared from information provided by the vendors and are intended as general guide. The purchaser should confirm details of concern to them by survey or engineers inspection. The purchaser should also ensure that the purchase contract properly reflects their concerns and specifies details on which they wish to rely.
