Holman & Pye designed IOR 3/4 tonner built by McGruers - 1974 - £29,500
A beautiful & quite famous classic! Built by McGruers in 1974 for Major John Clothier as an IOR ¾ tonner, campaigned successfully throughout the 70s and into the 80s including participating in the infamous 1979 Fastnet race, during this race she was abandoned by her crew and later towed into Brixham - this history is featured in the "Fastnet Force 10" book.
Holman & Pye designed IOR 3/4 tonner built by McGruers - 1974 - £29,500
A beautiful & quite famous classic! Built by McGruers in 1974 for Major John Clothier as an IOR ¾ tonner, campaigned successfully throughout the 70s and into the 80s including participating in the infamous 1979 Fastnet race, during this race she was abandoned by her crew and later towed into Brixham - this history is featured in the "Fastnet Force 10" book.
During the 80s and 90s she returned to active and successful racing including winning the Warsash spring series in 1998. She can still qualify for entry into classic regattas
In recent years she has been cruised very extensively from Gdansk in Poland in the east to Baiona, NW Spain in the south and north to the Hebrides, Western Isles including to St Kilda.
She has been professionally cared for with great attention to detail and is well known to readers of Yachting Monthly. Always wintered ashore mast down under a full winter cover.
Please contact us onor email us for more information on this unique yacht or to arrange a viewing
History &Amp; Construction
Designed by Holman and Pye, 'Polar Bear' was built by McGruers of Clynder on the western shores of the Gareloch in 1974. She is of triple skinned mahogany (epoxy coated to the waterline) covering laminated frames, with stainless steel angle plates fitted to the inside and forward faces of the ring frames in way of the mast partners.
The fin keel is of lead, fastened by paired and staggered 1 3/8" stainless steel fastenings.
Decks are of painted Thames Marine grade plywood with cockpit seating straight laid with teak. Coach roof sides of mahogany-type hardwood.
Topsides have been hand-painted to a very high standard using 'epifanes' (you would be mistaken for thinking that they had been spray-finished) and all bright work varnished using Epiphanes traditional varnish.
'Polar Bear' has been jointly owned by Miranda Delmar-Morgan (professional yachtswoman) and her husband and during their more than eighteen year ownership they have taught both their daughters to sail professionally; cruised as far as Gdansk in Poland to the east, St Kilda west of Scotland in the north and Baiona in Spain to the south.
The mast has been unstepped and the yacht laid ashore under a full cover each winter. The vessel was last surveyed in March 2016, with all recommendations in a notably short list, attended to.
This stunning looking cruiser racer has enjoyed top class maintenance, has a well-proven sea-going record and provides great pride of ownership and provokes comment wherever she goes.
Accommodation
Boasting a wonderfully practical chart table and seamanlike L-shaped galley to port, the main cabin is fitted with a centre-line, mast-mounted table and parallel seating. Good light values from relatively long side windows and large overhead hatches blend with all the wood to provide a surprisingly light and very welcoming interior.
Forward, the layout might be said to feature a focs'le with two berths, rather than an independent cabin, with the marine head sharing the space forward of the main bulkhead to port and wash basin and hanging locker to starboard - as would be found in contemporary designs such as the Contessa 32, Sadler 32 and Sigma 33.
The hull's beam about the cockpit area combined with some tumble-home accommodates the quarter berths, with the port-hand one suitable for 2 'friendly' adults (a portlight opens to the cockpit well), while the starboard quarter berth is restricted to a single size to accommodate some hanging/storage space inboard, with a prismatic deck-light ensuring good light within the berth space itself.
The sleeping arrangements reflect Polar Bear's designed racing intent, with an original max. of eight single berths (excepting the port quarter berth), but a pilot berth to starb'd side of the main cabin has been replaced with closed lockers; an arrangements that also widened the settee.
The galley features a replacement cooker (with gas safety certificate May 2017), hot and cold pressurised freshwater supply and 12volt Isotherm refrigeration unit.
Sails And Spars
Mainsail - by Hyde Sails with two reefs (2010).
No.3 genoa (2017) by GP Sails.
No.2 genoa (indeterminate age).
No.1 (150%) genoa - not yet modified to suit the Furlex roller reefing extrusion.
Working jib.
Storm trisail (fits dedicated track on the mast).
Storm jib.
Symmetric spinnaker (aged, but good condition) with snuffer.
Lightweight ghosting spinnaker.
Asymmetric cruising chute by CJ Marine (2015) in snuffer.
Keel stepped alloy Mast and main boom by Proctor Masts.
Twin spinnaker poles.
Jockey pole.
Note that the mast is unstepped for six months winter storage and inspected annually. The standing rigging is reported to have been changed at 8-10 year intervals in the current ownership, and Furlex reefing gear dates from 2006. A new backstay tensioner by Wichard was fitted 2014 and a new forestay wire in 2016.
Masthead-mounted tri-colour and all round white lights are fitted, together with a combination steaming light and for'deck floodlight. A Windex visual wind direction indicator is fitted.
Navigation Equipment
- Raymarine 'TackTic' wireless primary instrumentation giving:
Speed, Log, Depth, Wind information. These mounted on removable pads over companionway
- Standard Horizon CP300i chart plotter with AIS engine.
- Furuno GP30 GPS.
- Navtex display.
- Raymarine Smart Pilot X5 autopilot.
- Icom IC-M421 DSC VHF radio.
- Plastimo bulkhead compass
- Target HF3 SSB receiver with insulated backstay antenna
Safety Equipment
- 2 X Horse-shoe lifebuoys
- Danbuoy.
- Emergency tiller.
- 4 X fire extinguishers.
- Fire blanket.
- 2 X Henderson bilge pumps.
- Mast-mounted Blipper radar reflector.
Mechanical And Electrical Systems
A Beta Marine BD277, 20HP 3 cylinder, indirectly cooled marine diesel (fitted 1998), conventional shaft drive to two bladed Gori folding propeller. A PSS seal for a drip-less stern tube seal is fitted.The larger alternator option with a poly-drive belt was fitted at the time too.
Twin battery banks are switched and selected by rotary isolation switch; the engine cranking battery is a Varta 74 A/hr battery (New 2015) and the domestic/services bank comprises 2 X 105 A/hr deep cycle marine batteries (new 2016) by Vetus.
Fuel Tankage: 70 litres.
Freshwater: Two tanks beneath main saloon seating each side holding a combined total of approx.100 Litres (unconfirmed).
Deck Equipment
Anderson 46 ST self-tailing primary sheet winches.
Lewmar 40 two speed, secondary winches.
Lewmar 40 ST, self-tailing halyard winches.
Manual windlass
35lb CQR anchor with 40 meters 8mm chain spliced to 20 meters anchor-plait rope.
Secondary CQR with short chain and rope rode.
Acrylic, folding sprayhood, new 2016.
Three-fall lazy jack system and acrylic mainsail cover.
Full set of cockpit cushions.
Set of acrylic washboards.
Full cockpit rain cover
Summer cockpit awning c/w fibreglass spars.
Comprehensive set of mooring warps and fenders.
