Camper and Nicholsons
Encyclopedia
Camper and Nicholsons are the oldest leisure marine company in the world, producing and managing yacht
s for the world's richest people.
As Camper and Nicholsons was founded at Gosport
, Hampshire
before organised seawater yachting had even started, John Nicholson of the founding family once overheard the casual remark at the London Boat Show
that is now owned by an American-based private equity firm.
, leasing land in Gosport
, Hampshire
across the harbour from the Royal Naval Dockyard at Portsmouth. In 1809 Amos apprenticed his great-nephew William Camper, and by 1821 the yard was building small trading ships.
, positioning the business in the emergent yacht building industry. For twenty years from the launching of the cutter Breeze in 1836, Camper built up a reputation as a builder of fast yachts, particularly schooner
s which were favoured by a prestigious clientele. However, the outbreak of the Crimean War
in 1854 heralded a decline in Camper's career.
In 1842, 14 year old Ben Nicholson joined Camper's yard as a shipwright apprentice. As there was no clear male heir in the Camper family, Nicholson had risen in the yard to become chief designer, producing the innovative 1860 design for the schooner yacht the Aline. The yacht's racing success and subsequent orders prompted Nicholson's further promotion and facilitated his choice as Camper's replacement when he retired in 1863.
Nicholson vessels were extremely long lasting and his last, the 161 ton Amphritrite is still sailing. Another long lived, cruising yawl, the Florinda, proved so speedy that she became famous as the Gosport Mistake.
Eldest son Benjamin had no interest or aptitude for design, but made his impact through the supply of crew, drawn mainly from regional fishermen, for leisure and racing purposes to the yachts built for the rich clientele - a service that continued until 1939. Youngest son Arthur W. found his ability best applied through managing the maintenance and construction facilities of the yard, and the purchase in 1912 of expansion facilities in Southampton
.
emerged as the consummate yacht designer, able to combine elegance with speed and seamanship.
Charles's first design of note was the Redwing class. The Bembridge
sailing club met in October 1896 to agree the need for a shallow draughted yacht - to allow for the shoal waters of Bembridge Harbour - which could be sailed single-handed, to replace the expensive half racers. Charles designed the yacht in ten days, and by 1898 the fleet consisted of 16 boats, all built by C&N's yard.
In the early 1900s Charles developed a new powered craft which would enable the owners to come from their "big-boats" before and after the competitions. Named the Gelyce class, the name derived from the combined first and last letter of their respective wives: Gertie, Lucy, and Constance.
In 1912, Charles introduced the 15metre design Istria
with a Marconi rig, the first yacht in the world with a lightweight, laminated wood construction. This led to further developments and growing expertise in the use of lightweight materials which saw its fruition in the use of plywood
in deck construction. This ultimately led to arguably Nicholson's most beautiful sailing creation, the 1927 commissioned Vira (later 'Creole') was built on behalf of the American Alec Cochran.
. Subsidiary companies such as the loss making Gosport Aircraft Company were quickly axed on cessation of war.
In 1914 C&N had produced the world's first large, diesel
powered yacht M.Y. Pioneer, which permitted a reduction in overall tonnage without reducing accommodation. Capitalising on this, Camper and Nicholsons remained the world's leading builder of motor yachts through to the outbreak of World War II.
The largest of these motor yachts was the 1,629 tonne M.Y. Philante
, built for Sir Tom Sopwith
. This was the third motor yacht built by C&N for Sopwith, and after he bought the J-class yacht Shamrock V from the estate of Sir Thomas Lipton
in 1931, Sopwith commissioned Charles to design the 1934 J-class yacht
Endeavour, and 1936's Endeavour II. Nicholson was inducted into the America's Cup Hall of Fame
in 1997.
The height of C&N was probably 1937's Cowes Week
which came to be known as Charlie Nicholson's Regatta. All the J-Class, three quarters of the 12 Metres, half the 8 Metres and many of the ocean racers were from Charles’ board, as were many of the motor yachts in the spectator fleet and his sister designs Foxhound and the Olin Stephens
rigged Bloodhound
, the latter winning that year's Fastnet Race
. Foxhound was still being campaigned by Portugal in the 1974 Admirals Cup. And yet for all the success, less than ten percent of C&N's output during his time was racing yachts.
s, Motor Gun Boat
s, and the workhorses of the Admiralty
the Motor Fishing Vessel
. Spare capacity was used to produce canoe
s and surf boats for use on Commando
raids; and landing craft
for the British Army
troops in North Africa.
Just before the Second World War broke out, the Turkish Navy
ordered eight Motor Gun Boats from C&N. Larger than the contemporary Royal Navy units built by Vosper Thorneycroft and the British Power Boat Co.
, these vessels were also unusual in being specified for diesel
propulsion, with three 16 cylinder Paxman
VRBs rated at 1000 bhpat 1750 rev/min. Before completion, the war had broken out and they were taken over by the Royal Navy. Three of the class were completed as intended, though the last had to be fitted with Packard
petrol engines like the British MTB's. The other uncompleted five vessels were assigned to Operation Bridford, to bring SKF
ball bearings back from neutral Sweden
. Converted under the direction of modern day buccaneer
Sir George Binney
, the Gay Viking
class ran from Hull
with a trawlermen crew under a red ensign
flag as directed by the Admiralty
. The boats carried 45tonnes of cargo per trip at speeds of up to 23 knots (45 km/h), with a maximum cruise of 20 knots (39 km/h) and a range of 1200 nautical miles (2,222.4 km) at 17 knots.
Most of the pre-war C&N motor yachts were requisitioned by the Royal Navy
, often manned by their pre-war crews and commanded by their peacetime skipper or owner. The toughness of C&N craft was proven in incidents like that of M.Y. Esmeralda, which while involved in mine clearance
got too close. The resulting explosion threw her onto her beam ends, lifting her stern high into the air - she survived the incident with no structural damage whatsoever.
C&N's facilities were extensively damaged in numerous air raids
in 1941, destroying most of the companies historical records, facilitating the need to move some production to, among other places, temporary workshops in Mumby's mineral water works in North Street, Gosport.
In preparation for the D-Day landings in Normandy
, C&N built SLUG boats (Surf landing Under Girders), especially designed by the firm for D-Day to keep the Mulberry Harbour
s in place. They were shallow-draught motor boats which towed small barges under the girders of the floating bridges carrying the wire needed to hold the floating bridge in position.
s. The first was named Cinder and was owned by C E Nicholson for many years. She was later renamed Ellen Sophia and was still sailing in 2010. This productionised philosophy was developed further during the war years to enable the company to address the mass-market afterwards. John's cousin Charles A. Nicholson, universally known as Young Charlie, worked out of the Southampton premises, and not suffering the same shadow of his father launched his design career with the offshore racer Yeoman in 1937.
The company survived World War II intact, and thought it had much repair and maintenance work awaiting its yards through the return of owners. But Britain had changed, with the subdued economy through rationing
and high post-war tax rate making owners rethink where they based themselves. Young Charlie sent his second son George to the Côte d'Azur to work for a friends brokerage, and persuade both owners and crews to return their yachts to the yard for winter repairs. Also, there was a large shortage of wood, so in spite of continued racing successes and the production of high profile boats as the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh's Dragon class Bluebottle, the company relied on civilian repair work and Government contracts for wooden mine sweepers.
Charles E. Nicholson continued to chair the company until his death in 1954 aged 86, and it was only then that John was able to admit that he had created many of the later C&N designed yachts which had born the Charles E. Nicholson design banner. As Government contracts dried up in the late 1950s, Young Charlie's son Peter developed the production offerings of the company along three streams: large motor yachts, custom sailing yachts including his own 1964 showcase yacht Rocquette (the first British ocean racer to have a flush deck, and whose innovations lead to the later Gypsy Moth IV); and the so called "people's yacht" made from Glass-reinforced plastic
.
With no experience of GRP or additional yard space for production, C&N commissioned Halmatic
to mould hulls for the initial Nicholson 36 yacht designed by Peter, followed by the Nicholson 32 and then 26, 38, 43, 45, 48, 55 and 70. Other innovations included a heads compartment
designed as a one piece moulding, while the lead
keel was encapsulated within the hull moulding. By the time stock production had finally ceased in 1981 of the Nicholson 32, 369 boats had been built, and a set of moulds was exported to Australia with at least ten boats built there. Other production models which made up the 1,400 boats produced during this period included:
The first Nicholson 55 was commissioned by Lloyds of London Yacht Club and named Yacht Lutine
, as are named all LYC yachts, with sail number GBR809. She was sold in 1999 and renamed Acclaim.
The Joint Services Association (Royal Navy, Army, Royal Air Force) owned 7 Nic 55's which are sailed around the world primarily by service men and women during adventurous training events.
. This was quickly axed post-World War I, and with Charles E. Nicholson's driven growth, the only subsidiary pre-WW2 was a chandlers.
In the 1950s with survival so reliant on Government contracts, C&N Electrical Ltd was headed by electrician Roy Taylor to supply control boxes for minesweepers. By the early 1970s and still managed by Taylor, it had grown to employ 1,250 in five factories, and had spun off further companies such as Dialled Despatches which manufactures pneumatic tube systems.
In the 1960s Camper and Nicholsons Marinas Ltd was formed to develop old Admiralty land adjacent to the main yard. This success brought council pressure to make land available for post-war town develop plans, which resulted in the closure of the waterside Beach Street Site, and reduction in the ability to accept profitable lay up, repair and refit work.
In 1961, in light of the amount of construction and refit/repair work it was generating for the home yard, George persuaded his father to buy out his friend in the Côte d'Azur brokerage business, renaming it Camper and Nicholson International. By this point the company had numerous offices around the Mediterranean, as well as Australia, the Caribbean, Hong Kong
, Singapore
and both coasts of America.
All of these companies plus the building and repair facilities as two separate entities were now being held by Camper and Nicholsons Holdings Ltd, which although profitable was short of investment capital.
with investment and house building company Crest Securities Ltd., to form Crest Nicholson
, and develop more former Admiralty sites.
However, in light of the rise in VAT
on boats from 8% to 25% in 1975, and the 1979 development of a bridge over the River Itchen
which restricted access to the Southampton yard, the company became short of cash. Having sold off C&N Electrical Ltd in 1974 for cash, and deciding to shut the Southampton yard, the assets of Camper and Nicholsons Holdings Ltd became part of Crest Nicholson. George was not happy with the full merger, and left Camper and Nicholson International to form Solidmark, which he built into a successful brokerage, consultancy and yacht management company.
In 1981, then Managing Director Tony Taylor led a management buyout
of the yacht building yard, which finally cut the ties to the Nicholson family. Under the name Camper and Nicholsons Yachting, production of stock boats continued and the yard returned to its tradition of building custom yachts. The company was chaired by Nick Maris whose family interests were the majority shareholders. In 1999 the boat building and repair business of Camper and Nicholsons Yachting was bought by Cammell Laird
.
In 1991, Nick Maris approached George about merging Solidmark with Camper & Nicholsons International, which George agreed to become MD of again. The company expanded to include sites in Italy, Germany and Mexico. The company was brought by the French Rodriguez Group in 2001. George remains non executive chairman of Camper and Nicholsons International. Maris at this point bought out the remaining share holders in Camper and Nicholson Marinas, which now has developments across the world.
In 1992 Crest Nicholson sold the Gosport Marina, the Camper and Nicholsons Marina consultancy business and the rights to the Camper & Nicholsons Brand to Nick Maris.
In 2001 Camper and Nicholsons Yachting was bought by Italian industrialist Salvatore Ferragamo
's Nautor Group
, which restarted stock production in Gosport in 2004 with a 42 feet (13 m) motor yacht. The Gosport yard finally closed in December 2005, with production moving to Scandinavia
in 2006 following a development offer from a joint venture of Camper and Nicholsons Marinas and Crest Nicholson.. The firm now is run by an American private equity firm.
s, three of which raced in the America's Cup
. All designed by Charles Nicholson, the first was Shamrock V for 1930 race, funded by retailer Sir Thomas Lipton
. The second was Velsheda commissioned for Woolworths
magnate William Lawrence Stephenson, but was not used as a Cup challenger. The third and fourth boats were funded by pioneer aviation entrepreneur Sir Thomas Sopwith. Sopwith had had his private yachts built by C&N, including M.Y. Vita and her sisters. Having bought Shamrock V on the death of Lipton in 1931, he returned to the yard to have Charles Nicholson design and build the 1934 America's Cup entry Endeavour
and the 1937 entry Endeavour II.
commissioned C&N to build the third boat (the first was a plane) in his series, Gipsy Moth IV
. Inspired while writing his book Along the Clipper Way, which charts the voyage taken by 19th century wool
clippers returning from Australia, Chichester set himself the target of making the passage in 100 days against the clippers average of 123 days. The maximum speed of a yacht is directly related to its wetted length: Gipsy Moth IV is 53 feet overall, whereas a clipper ship such as the Cutty Sark
is 212 feet (65 m). Designed by John Illingworth and Angus Primrose, the boat incorporated the maximum amount of sail for the minimum amount of rigging, whilst employing tiller
based self-steering using design principles established by Blondie Hasler that could enable steerage from the skippers bunk, essential for long passage solo sailing. Launched in March 1966 with a hull constructed of cold-moulded Honduras
mahogany
, she set out from Plymouth
on 27 August 1966 with 64 year old Sir Francis at the helm. 107 days later she entered Sydney
harbour for a stop over. Returning via Cape Horn
in just 274 days (226 days actual sailing time), the voyage claimed records for the fastest voyage around the world by any small vessel, and longest non stop passage that had been made by a small sailing vessel (15,000 miles).
C&N has a history of building Royal Yacht
s, including the 1936 Bloodhound which The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh bought in 1962.
The 1928 commissioned HMS Monica, later renamed HMS Rion, served as a mine hunter during World War II. Purchased by Aristotle Onassis
from war surplus, she was refitted and renamed Arion and presented as a wedding present to Rainier III, Prince of Monaco
when he married actress Grace Kelly
. His Sovereign Highness
renamed her Deo Juvante II and she was used by the newlyweds for their honeymoon cruising the Mediterranean. The yacht is now owned and operated by Quasar Expeditions in the Galápagos Islands as the M/Y Grace.
The 1937 commissioned M.Y. Philante was built on behalf of Sir Thomas Sopwith
, the name an amalgam of his wife Phyllis and Sopwith's Christian names. It was used by Sopwith to attend America's Cup
races and regatta
's, including the 1938 regatta at Hankø
in eastern Norway. After the outbreak of World War II, the Royal Navy
requisitioned M.Y. Philante as an escort vessel for convoys crossing the Atlantic, and then as a school ship for training convoy escorts in 1942. Returned to Sopwith in 1946, she was sold to the Norwegian Government as the promised royal yacht of King Haakon
. After an extensive refit in Norway, on 17 May 1948 the ship's captain, Commander Christian Monsen, raised the command pennant on the renamed Norge
for the first time, and on 9 June the Royal Yacht was handed over to King Haakon. She remains today one of only two Royal yachts still in service.
. Another 50 ft Gelyce is still in existence at Bordeaux Boat Museum lent by Mr. Voisin of Villefrance, as is the original Peel commissioned boat.
by her subsequent owner in 1970. Northwind II's interior was decorated by Maison Jansen
, the illustrious design firm whose clientele included the Kennedy White House, Coco Chanel, and the Shah of Iran. In 2010 Northwind II was fully rebuilt and upgraded, her interior expertly restored. As one of the few remaining complete Jansen commissions, she has attracted great interest from connoisseurs of 20th-century interior design. Most recently she was featured in the August 2011 issue of Architectural Digest
. She is now privately owned in the Mediterranean.
Yacht
A yacht is a recreational boat or ship. The term originated from the Dutch Jacht meaning "hunt". It was originally defined as a light fast sailing vessel used by the Dutch navy to pursue pirates and other transgressors around and into the shallow waters of the Low Countries...
s for the world's richest people.
As Camper and Nicholsons was founded at Gosport
Gosport
Gosport is a town, district and borough situated on the south coast of England, within the county of Hampshire. It has approximately 80,000 permanent residents with a further 5,000-10,000 during the summer months...
, Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
before organised seawater yachting had even started, John Nicholson of the founding family once overheard the casual remark at the London Boat Show
London Boat Show
The London Boat Show is held each January at the ExCeL Exhibition Centre in London, just opposite the O2 and the centre of London's business and entertainment centre. It is a very large event, now in its 54th year, which uses ExCeL's two 32,500 square metre halls...
that is now owned by an American-based private equity firm.
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Frances Amos
In 1782, Frances Calense Amos arrived from London and started a shipyardShipyard
Shipyards and dockyards are places which repair and build ships. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance and basing activities than shipyards, which are sometimes associated more with initial...
, leasing land in Gosport
Gosport
Gosport is a town, district and borough situated on the south coast of England, within the county of Hampshire. It has approximately 80,000 permanent residents with a further 5,000-10,000 during the summer months...
, Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
across the harbour from the Royal Naval Dockyard at Portsmouth. In 1809 Amos apprenticed his great-nephew William Camper, and by 1821 the yard was building small trading ships.
William Camper
As Amos had no children, after his death in 1824 his nephew Camper took over the lease on the yard. Camper forged strong links with the wealthy members of the Royal Yacht SquadronRoyal Yacht Squadron
The Royal Yacht Squadron is the most prestigious yacht club in the United Kingdom and arguably the world. Its clubhouse is located in Cowes Castle on the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom...
, positioning the business in the emergent yacht building industry. For twenty years from the launching of the cutter Breeze in 1836, Camper built up a reputation as a builder of fast yachts, particularly schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
s which were favoured by a prestigious clientele. However, the outbreak of the Crimean War
Crimean War
The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
in 1854 heralded a decline in Camper's career.
In 1842, 14 year old Ben Nicholson joined Camper's yard as a shipwright apprentice. As there was no clear male heir in the Camper family, Nicholson had risen in the yard to become chief designer, producing the innovative 1860 design for the schooner yacht the Aline. The yacht's racing success and subsequent orders prompted Nicholson's further promotion and facilitated his choice as Camper's replacement when he retired in 1863.
Camper and Nicholson
The company of Camper and Nicholson was formed in 1863, financed by both William Camper and the Lapthorn family, who operated an adjacent sail loft. Nicholson undertook a 30-year programme of expansion, more than doubling the size and scale of the facilities. In tonnage terms, the design and construction of large schooners dominated the firm's output, and to this staple Nicholson added an extensive refit and maintenance business which was made possible by the near constant expansion of the yard's facilities.Nicholson vessels were extremely long lasting and his last, the 161 ton Amphritrite is still sailing. Another long lived, cruising yawl, the Florinda, proved so speedy that she became famous as the Gosport Mistake.
1890s
The arrival of Ben's three sons in the firm occasioned a final name change to Camper and Nicholsons.Eldest son Benjamin had no interest or aptitude for design, but made his impact through the supply of crew, drawn mainly from regional fishermen, for leisure and racing purposes to the yachts built for the rich clientele - a service that continued until 1939. Youngest son Arthur W. found his ability best applied through managing the maintenance and construction facilities of the yard, and the purchase in 1912 of expansion facilities in Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
.
Charles E. Nicholson
Middle son Charles Ernest NicholsonCharles Ernest Nicholson
-Biography:He was born in 1868.Nicholson's first design of note was the Redwing class. The Bembridge sailing club met in October 1896 to agree the need for a shallow draughted yacht - to allow for the shoal waters of Bembridge Harbour - which could be sailed single-handed, to replace the expensive...
emerged as the consummate yacht designer, able to combine elegance with speed and seamanship.
Charles's first design of note was the Redwing class. The Bembridge
Bembridge
Bembridge is an affluent village and civil parish located on the easternmost point of the Isle of Wight. It had a population of 3,848 according to the 2001 census of the United Kingdom, leading to claims by residents that Bembridge is the largest village in England, and occasional claims that it is...
sailing club met in October 1896 to agree the need for a shallow draughted yacht - to allow for the shoal waters of Bembridge Harbour - which could be sailed single-handed, to replace the expensive half racers. Charles designed the yacht in ten days, and by 1898 the fleet consisted of 16 boats, all built by C&N's yard.
In the early 1900s Charles developed a new powered craft which would enable the owners to come from their "big-boats" before and after the competitions. Named the Gelyce class, the name derived from the combined first and last letter of their respective wives: Gertie, Lucy, and Constance.
In 1912, Charles introduced the 15metre design Istria
Istria (yacht)
Istria was a 15-metre class racing yacht designed by Charles Ernest Nicholson and built at the Camper & Nicholsons yard in 1912. She was the first yacht in the world with a lightweight, laminated wood construction and the first to feature a marconi topmast....
with a Marconi rig, the first yacht in the world with a lightweight, laminated wood construction. This led to further developments and growing expertise in the use of lightweight materials which saw its fruition in the use of plywood
Plywood
Plywood is a type of manufactured timber made from thin sheets of wood veneer. It is one of the most widely used wood products. It is flexible, inexpensive, workable, re-usable, and can usually be locally manufactured...
in deck construction. This ultimately led to arguably Nicholson's most beautiful sailing creation, the 1927 commissioned Vira (later 'Creole') was built on behalf of the American Alec Cochran.
Post World War I "Golden era"
Going into and emerging from World War I, the company successfully retained its 1,700 employees even through being subsumed in to the AdmiraltyAdmiralty Islands
The Admiralty Islands are a group of eighteen islands in the Bismarck Archipelago, to the north of New Guinea in the south Pacific Ocean. These are also sometimes called the Manus Islands, after the largest island. These rainforest-covered islands form part of Manus Province, the smallest and...
. Subsidiary companies such as the loss making Gosport Aircraft Company were quickly axed on cessation of war.
In 1914 C&N had produced the world's first large, diesel
Diesel engine
A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...
powered yacht M.Y. Pioneer, which permitted a reduction in overall tonnage without reducing accommodation. Capitalising on this, Camper and Nicholsons remained the world's leading builder of motor yachts through to the outbreak of World War II.
The largest of these motor yachts was the 1,629 tonne M.Y. Philante
HNoMY Norge
One of only two remaining Royal Yachts in Europe, HNoMY Norge is the Royal Yacht of the King of Norway. The ship's name Norge is Norwegian for Norway....
, built for Sir Tom Sopwith
Thomas Sopwith
Sir Thomas Octave Murdoch Sopwith, CBE, Hon FRAeS was an English aviation pioneer and yachtsman.-Early life:...
. This was the third motor yacht built by C&N for Sopwith, and after he bought the J-class yacht Shamrock V from the estate of Sir Thomas Lipton
Thomas Lipton
Sir Thomas Johnstone Lipton, 1st Baronet, KCVO was a Scotsman of Ulster-Scots parentage who was a self-made man, merchant, and yachtsman. He created the Lipton tea brand and was the most persistent challenger in the history of the America's Cup.-Parentage and childhood:Lipton was born in Glasgow...
in 1931, Sopwith commissioned Charles to design the 1934 J-class yacht
J-class yacht
The J-Class serves as a rating for large sailing yachts designed between 1930 and 1937. Reserved for a wealthy elite of yachtsmen, these boats were used to compete with the best sailing talents in three races of the America's Cup.-The 1930s:...
Endeavour, and 1936's Endeavour II. Nicholson was inducted into the America's Cup Hall of Fame
America's Cup Hall of Fame
The America's Cup Hall of Fame, located at the Herreshoff Marine Museum of Bristol, Rhode Island, USA, honors individuals for outstanding achievement in the America's Cup sailing competition...
in 1997.
The height of C&N was probably 1937's Cowes Week
Cowes Week
Cowes Week is one of the longest-running regular regattas in the world. With 40 daily races, up to 1,000 boats, and 8,500 competitors ranging from Olympic and world class professionals to weekend sailors, it is the largest sailing regatta of its kind in the world...
which came to be known as Charlie Nicholson's Regatta. All the J-Class, three quarters of the 12 Metres, half the 8 Metres and many of the ocean racers were from Charles’ board, as were many of the motor yachts in the spectator fleet and his sister designs Foxhound and the Olin Stephens
Olin Stephens
Olin James Stephens II was an American yacht designer of the 20th century. Stephens was born in New York, but spent his summers with his brother Rod, learning to sail on the New England coast. He also attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for a term.Stephens' name had a long history...
rigged Bloodhound
Bloodhound (yacht)
Bloodhound is a 19.2-metre ocean racing yacht. She was designed by Charles E. Nicholson and built by Camper and Nicholsons in 1936...
, the latter winning that year's Fastnet Race
Fastnet race
The Fastnet Race is a famous offshore yachting race. It is considered one of the classic offshore races. It takes place every two years over a course of . The race starts off Cowes on the Isle of Wight in England, rounds the Fastnet Rock off the southwest coast of Ireland and then finishes at...
. Foxhound was still being campaigned by Portugal in the 1974 Admirals Cup. And yet for all the success, less than ten percent of C&N's output during his time was racing yachts.
World War II
Like many commercial companies with skills vital to the war effort, C&N were taken over by the British Government on the outset of World War II. The company used both its extensive design capability to produce seaworthy vessels for simplified "any location" production, and set up set a production line itself producing Motor Torpedo BoatMotor Torpedo Boat
Motor Torpedo Boat was the name given to fast torpedo boats by the Royal Navy, and the Royal Canadian Navy.The capitalised term is generally used for the Royal Navy boats and abbreviated to "MTB"...
s, Motor Gun Boat
Motor Gun Boat
Motor Gun Boat was a Royal Navy term for a small military vessel of the Second World War. They were physically similar to the Motor Torpedo Boats but equipped with a mix of guns instead of torpedoes. Their small size and high speed made them difficult targets for E-boats or torpedo bombers, but...
s, and the workhorses of the Admiralty
Admiralty Islands
The Admiralty Islands are a group of eighteen islands in the Bismarck Archipelago, to the north of New Guinea in the south Pacific Ocean. These are also sometimes called the Manus Islands, after the largest island. These rainforest-covered islands form part of Manus Province, the smallest and...
the Motor Fishing Vessel
Fishing vessel
A fishing vessel is a boat or ship used to catch fish in the sea, or on a lake or river. Many different kinds of vessels are used in commercial, artisanal and recreational fishing....
. Spare capacity was used to produce canoe
Canoe
A canoe or Canadian canoe is a small narrow boat, typically human-powered, though it may also be powered by sails or small electric or gas motors. Canoes are usually pointed at both bow and stern and are normally open on top, but can be decked over A canoe (North American English) or Canadian...
s and surf boats for use on Commando
Royal Marines
The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
raids; and landing craft
Landing craft
Landing craft are boats and seagoing vessels used to convey a landing force from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. Most renowned are those used to storm the beaches of Normandy, the Mediterranean, and many Pacific islands during WWII...
for the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
troops in North Africa.
Just before the Second World War broke out, the Turkish Navy
Turkish Navy
The Turkish Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the Turkish Armed Forces.- Ottoman fleet after Mudros :Following the demise of the Ottoman Empire in the aftermath of World War I, on November 3, 1918, the fleet commander of the Ottoman Navy, Liva Amiral Arif Pasha, ordered all flags to be...
ordered eight Motor Gun Boats from C&N. Larger than the contemporary Royal Navy units built by Vosper Thorneycroft and the British Power Boat Co.
British Power Boat Company
The British Power Boat Company was a British manufacturer of motor boats, particularly racing boats and later military patrol boats.It was formed on 30 September 1927 when Hubert Scott-Paine bought and renamed the Hythe Shipyard with the intention of transforming it into one of the most modern mass...
, these vessels were also unusual in being specified for diesel
Diesel engine
A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...
propulsion, with three 16 cylinder Paxman
Paxman (engines)
Paxman is a major British brand of diesel engines. Ownership has changed on a number of occasions since the company's formation in 1865, and now the brand is owned by MAN SE, as part of MAN Diesel & Turbo. At its peak, the Paxman works covered 23 acres and employed over 2,000 people. Engine...
VRBs rated at 1000 bhpat 1750 rev/min. Before completion, the war had broken out and they were taken over by the Royal Navy. Three of the class were completed as intended, though the last had to be fitted with Packard
Packard
Packard was an American luxury-type automobile marque built by the Packard Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan, and later by the Studebaker-Packard Corporation of South Bend, Indiana...
petrol engines like the British MTB's. The other uncompleted five vessels were assigned to Operation Bridford, to bring SKF
SKF
SKF, Svenska Kullagerfabriken AB , later AB SKF, is a Swedish bearing company founded in 1907, supplying bearings, seals, lubrication and lubrication systems, maintenance products, mechatronics products, power transmission products and related services globally.-History:The company was founded on...
ball bearings back from neutral Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. Converted under the direction of modern day buccaneer
Buccaneer
The buccaneers were privateers who attacked Spanish shipping in the Caribbean Sea during the late 17th century.The term buccaneer is now used generally as a synonym for pirate...
Sir George Binney
George Binney
Sir George Binney was a noted arctic explorer and Royal Naval Reserve commander. During World War II, he led or was involved in efforts, including Operation Rubble, to procure supplies of Swedish ball bearings for Britain....
, the Gay Viking
HMS Gay Viking
HMS Gay Viking was a Motor Gun Boat of the Royal Navy, serving with Coastal Forces during the Second World War. Gay Viking was one of eight vessels that were ordered by the Turkish Navy, but were taken over by the Royal Navy during the Second World War to serve as a flotilla of blockade runners...
class ran from Hull
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...
with a trawlermen crew under a red ensign
Red Ensign
The Red Ensign or "Red Duster" is a flag that originated in the early 17th century as a British ensign flown by the Royal Navy and later specifically by British merchantmen. The precise date of its first appearance is not known, but surviving receipts indicate that the Navy was paying to have such...
flag as directed by the Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
. The boats carried 45tonnes of cargo per trip at speeds of up to 23 knots (45 km/h), with a maximum cruise of 20 knots (39 km/h) and a range of 1200 nautical miles (2,222.4 km) at 17 knots.
Most of the pre-war C&N motor yachts were requisitioned by the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
, often manned by their pre-war crews and commanded by their peacetime skipper or owner. The toughness of C&N craft was proven in incidents like that of M.Y. Esmeralda, which while involved in mine clearance
Minesweeper (ship)
A minesweeper is a small naval warship designed to counter the threat posed by naval mines. Minesweepers generally detect then neutralize mines in advance of other naval operations.-History:...
got too close. The resulting explosion threw her onto her beam ends, lifting her stern high into the air - she survived the incident with no structural damage whatsoever.
C&N's facilities were extensively damaged in numerous air raids
Airstrike
An air strike is an attack on a specific objective by military aircraft during an offensive mission. Air strikes are commonly delivered from aircraft such as fighters, bombers, ground attack aircraft, attack helicopters, and others...
in 1941, destroying most of the companies historical records, facilitating the need to move some production to, among other places, temporary workshops in Mumby's mineral water works in North Street, Gosport.
In preparation for the D-Day landings in Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
, C&N built SLUG boats (Surf landing Under Girders), especially designed by the firm for D-Day to keep the Mulberry Harbour
Mulberry harbour
A Mulberry harbour was a British type of temporary harbour developed in World War II to offload cargo on the beaches during the Allied invasion of Normandy....
s in place. They were shallow-draught motor boats which towed small barges under the girders of the floating bridges carrying the wire needed to hold the floating bridge in position.
Post World War II
Just prior to World War II, Charles's son John Nicholson began to assist with the design office. In 1939 it was one of John's designs which moved the company forward, when he designed a "batch" of six 30 feet (9 m) sloopSloop
A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....
s. The first was named Cinder and was owned by C E Nicholson for many years. She was later renamed Ellen Sophia and was still sailing in 2010. This productionised philosophy was developed further during the war years to enable the company to address the mass-market afterwards. John's cousin Charles A. Nicholson, universally known as Young Charlie, worked out of the Southampton premises, and not suffering the same shadow of his father launched his design career with the offshore racer Yeoman in 1937.
The company survived World War II intact, and thought it had much repair and maintenance work awaiting its yards through the return of owners. But Britain had changed, with the subdued economy through rationing
Rationing
Rationing is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, or services. Rationing controls the size of the ration, one's allotted portion of the resources being distributed on a particular day or at a particular time.- In economics :...
and high post-war tax rate making owners rethink where they based themselves. Young Charlie sent his second son George to the Côte d'Azur to work for a friends brokerage, and persuade both owners and crews to return their yachts to the yard for winter repairs. Also, there was a large shortage of wood, so in spite of continued racing successes and the production of high profile boats as the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh's Dragon class Bluebottle, the company relied on civilian repair work and Government contracts for wooden mine sweepers.
GRP production
Glass-reinforced plastic
Fiberglass , is a fiber reinforced polymer made of a plastic matrix reinforced by fine fibers of glass. It is also known as GFK ....
.
With no experience of GRP or additional yard space for production, C&N commissioned Halmatic
VT Group
VT Group plc was a British defence and services company, formerly known as Vosper Thornycroft. The Company had diversified from shipbuilding into various engineering and support services, becoming involved in many areas of provision through five main operating groups: VT Communications, VT...
to mould hulls for the initial Nicholson 36 yacht designed by Peter, followed by the Nicholson 32 and then 26, 38, 43, 45, 48, 55 and 70. Other innovations included a heads compartment
Head (watercraft)
The head is a ship's toilet. The name derives from sailing ships in which the toilet area for the regular sailors was placed at the head or bow of the ship.-Design:In sailing ships the toilet was placed in the bow for two reasons...
designed as a one piece moulding, while the lead
Lead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
keel was encapsulated within the hull moulding. By the time stock production had finally ceased in 1981 of the Nicholson 32, 369 boats had been built, and a set of moulds was exported to Australia with at least ten boats built there. Other production models which made up the 1,400 boats produced during this period included:
- Nicholson 32 - 369 boats + 20 in Australia
- Nicholson 35 - 228 boats
- Nicholson 38 - 134 boats, based on the Alden Mistral
- Nicholson 33 - 120 boats
The first Nicholson 55 was commissioned by Lloyds of London Yacht Club and named Yacht Lutine
Yacht Lutine
Yacht Lutine is the name given to all Lloyds of London Yacht Club's sailing yachts, often with sail number GBR809- First Yacht Lutine :...
, as are named all LYC yachts, with sail number GBR809. She was sold in 1999 and renamed Acclaim.
The Joint Services Association (Royal Navy, Army, Royal Air Force) owned 7 Nic 55's which are sailed around the world primarily by service men and women during adventurous training events.
Company structure
Being family owned, C&N had always had a propensity to develop subsidiaries to have complete control over production. The first example was the Gosport Aircraft Company, set up to use C&N's expertise in wooden construction in the supply of aircraft to the Ministry of WarMinistry of War
A Ministry of War or Ministry for War is an administrative, supply and services agency of an army, as opposed to the entire military establishment. Both Mexico and Brazil both still maintain a War Department for the support of their armies...
. This was quickly axed post-World War I, and with Charles E. Nicholson's driven growth, the only subsidiary pre-WW2 was a chandlers.
In the 1950s with survival so reliant on Government contracts, C&N Electrical Ltd was headed by electrician Roy Taylor to supply control boxes for minesweepers. By the early 1970s and still managed by Taylor, it had grown to employ 1,250 in five factories, and had spun off further companies such as Dialled Despatches which manufactures pneumatic tube systems.
In the 1960s Camper and Nicholsons Marinas Ltd was formed to develop old Admiralty land adjacent to the main yard. This success brought council pressure to make land available for post-war town develop plans, which resulted in the closure of the waterside Beach Street Site, and reduction in the ability to accept profitable lay up, repair and refit work.
In 1961, in light of the amount of construction and refit/repair work it was generating for the home yard, George persuaded his father to buy out his friend in the Côte d'Azur brokerage business, renaming it Camper and Nicholson International. By this point the company had numerous offices around the Mediterranean, as well as Australia, the Caribbean, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
and both coasts of America.
All of these companies plus the building and repair facilities as two separate entities were now being held by Camper and Nicholsons Holdings Ltd, which although profitable was short of investment capital.
1972 to present
In 1972, Camper and Nicholsons Holdings Ltd formed a joint ventureJoint venture
A joint venture is a business agreement in which parties agree to develop, for a finite time, a new entity and new assets by contributing equity. They exercise control over the enterprise and consequently share revenues, expenses and assets...
with investment and house building company Crest Securities Ltd., to form Crest Nicholson
Crest Nicholson
Crest Nicholson is a British housebuilding company based in Chertsey, Surrey.-History:The Company was founded by Bryan Skinner in 1963 as Crest Homes and floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1968. One of the characteristics that differentiated Crest from most other housebuilders of the time was...
, and develop more former Admiralty sites.
However, in light of the rise in VAT
Vat
Vat or VAT may refer to:* A type of container such as a barrel, storage tank, or tub, often constructed of welded sheet stainless steel, and used for holding, storing, and processing liquids such as milk, wine, and beer...
on boats from 8% to 25% in 1975, and the 1979 development of a bridge over the River Itchen
River Itchen, Hampshire
The River Itchen is a river in Hampshire, England. It flows from mid-Hampshire to join with Southampton Water below the Itchen Bridge in the city of Southampton. The river has a total length of , and is noted as one of England's - if not one of the World's - premier chalk streams for fly fishing,...
which restricted access to the Southampton yard, the company became short of cash. Having sold off C&N Electrical Ltd in 1974 for cash, and deciding to shut the Southampton yard, the assets of Camper and Nicholsons Holdings Ltd became part of Crest Nicholson. George was not happy with the full merger, and left Camper and Nicholson International to form Solidmark, which he built into a successful brokerage, consultancy and yacht management company.
In 1981, then Managing Director Tony Taylor led a management buyout
Management buyout
A management buyout is a form of acquisition where a company's existing managers acquire a large part or all of the company.- Overview :Management buyouts are similar in all major legal aspects to any other acquisition of a company...
of the yacht building yard, which finally cut the ties to the Nicholson family. Under the name Camper and Nicholsons Yachting, production of stock boats continued and the yard returned to its tradition of building custom yachts. The company was chaired by Nick Maris whose family interests were the majority shareholders. In 1999 the boat building and repair business of Camper and Nicholsons Yachting was bought by Cammell Laird
Cammell Laird
Cammell Laird, one of the most famous names in British shipbuilding during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, came about following the merger of Laird, Son & Co. of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co. of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century.- Founding of the business :The Company...
.
In 1991, Nick Maris approached George about merging Solidmark with Camper & Nicholsons International, which George agreed to become MD of again. The company expanded to include sites in Italy, Germany and Mexico. The company was brought by the French Rodriguez Group in 2001. George remains non executive chairman of Camper and Nicholsons International. Maris at this point bought out the remaining share holders in Camper and Nicholson Marinas, which now has developments across the world.
In 1992 Crest Nicholson sold the Gosport Marina, the Camper and Nicholsons Marina consultancy business and the rights to the Camper & Nicholsons Brand to Nick Maris.
In 2001 Camper and Nicholsons Yachting was bought by Italian industrialist Salvatore Ferragamo
Salvatore Ferragamo
Salvatore Ferragamo was a Florentine and Italian shoe designer. He worked with many Hollywood stars in the 1920s, before returning to Italy to found the eponymous company making unique hand-made footwear. His scientific and creative approach to shoes spawned many innovations such as the wedge heel...
's Nautor Group
Nautor's Swan
Oy Nautor AB is a Finnish producer of luxury sailing yachts, based in Jakobstad. It is known for its Swan line of fiberglass yacht. The company was founded in 1966 by Pekka Koskenkylä...
, which restarted stock production in Gosport in 2004 with a 42 feet (13 m) motor yacht. The Gosport yard finally closed in December 2005, with production moving to Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
in 2006 following a development offer from a joint venture of Camper and Nicholsons Marinas and Crest Nicholson.. The firm now is run by an American private equity firm.
J-class yachts
Camper and Nicholsons built four J-class yachtJ-class yacht
The J-Class serves as a rating for large sailing yachts designed between 1930 and 1937. Reserved for a wealthy elite of yachtsmen, these boats were used to compete with the best sailing talents in three races of the America's Cup.-The 1930s:...
s, three of which raced in the America's Cup
America's Cup
The America’s Cup is a trophy awarded to the winner of the America's Cup match races between two yachts. One yacht, known as the defender, represents the yacht club that currently holds the America's Cup and the second yacht, known as the challenger, represents the yacht club that is challenging...
. All designed by Charles Nicholson, the first was Shamrock V for 1930 race, funded by retailer Sir Thomas Lipton
Thomas Lipton
Sir Thomas Johnstone Lipton, 1st Baronet, KCVO was a Scotsman of Ulster-Scots parentage who was a self-made man, merchant, and yachtsman. He created the Lipton tea brand and was the most persistent challenger in the history of the America's Cup.-Parentage and childhood:Lipton was born in Glasgow...
. The second was Velsheda commissioned for Woolworths
Woolworths Group
Woolworths Group plc was a listed British company that owned the high-street retail chain, Woolworths, as well as other brands such as the entertainment distributor Entertainment UK and book and resource distributor Bertram Books...
magnate William Lawrence Stephenson, but was not used as a Cup challenger. The third and fourth boats were funded by pioneer aviation entrepreneur Sir Thomas Sopwith. Sopwith had had his private yachts built by C&N, including M.Y. Vita and her sisters. Having bought Shamrock V on the death of Lipton in 1931, he returned to the yard to have Charles Nicholson design and build the 1934 America's Cup entry Endeavour
Endeavour (Yacht)
Endeavour is a J-class yacht built for the 1934 America's Cup by Camper and Nicholson in Gosport, Portsmouth Harbour, England. She was built for Thomas Sopwith who used his aviation design expertise to ensure the yacht was the most advanced of its day with a steel hull and mast...
and the 1937 entry Endeavour II.
Gipsy Moth IV
In 1962 Sir Francis ChichesterFrancis Chichester
Sir Francis Charles Chichester KBE , aviator and sailor, was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for becoming the first person to sail single-handed around the world by the clipper route, and the fastest circumnavigator, in nine months and one day overall.-Early life:Chichester was born in Barnstaple,...
commissioned C&N to build the third boat (the first was a plane) in his series, Gipsy Moth IV
Gipsy Moth IV
Gipsy Moth IV is a yawl that Sir Francis Chichester commissioned specifically to sail single-handed around the globe, racing against the times set by the clipper ships of the 19th century.-Background and design:...
. Inspired while writing his book Along the Clipper Way, which charts the voyage taken by 19th century wool
Wool
Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....
clippers returning from Australia, Chichester set himself the target of making the passage in 100 days against the clippers average of 123 days. The maximum speed of a yacht is directly related to its wetted length: Gipsy Moth IV is 53 feet overall, whereas a clipper ship such as the Cutty Sark
Cutty Sark
The Cutty Sark is a clipper ship. Built in 1869, she served as a merchant vessel , and then as a training ship until being put on public display in 1954...
is 212 feet (65 m). Designed by John Illingworth and Angus Primrose, the boat incorporated the maximum amount of sail for the minimum amount of rigging, whilst employing tiller
Tiller
A tiller or till is a lever attached to a rudder post or rudder stock of a boat that provides leverage for the helmsman to turn the rudder...
based self-steering using design principles established by Blondie Hasler that could enable steerage from the skippers bunk, essential for long passage solo sailing. Launched in March 1966 with a hull constructed of cold-moulded Honduras
Honduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
mahogany
Mahogany
The name mahogany is used when referring to numerous varieties of dark-colored hardwood. It is a native American word originally used for the wood of the species Swietenia mahagoni, known as West Indian or Cuban mahogany....
, she set out from Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
on 27 August 1966 with 64 year old Sir Francis at the helm. 107 days later she entered Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
harbour for a stop over. Returning via Cape Horn
Cape Horn
Cape Horn is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island...
in just 274 days (226 days actual sailing time), the voyage claimed records for the fastest voyage around the world by any small vessel, and longest non stop passage that had been made by a small sailing vessel (15,000 miles).
Royal yachts
Royal Yacht
A royal yacht is a ship used by a monarch or a royal family. If the monarch is an emperor the proper term is imperial yacht. Most of them are financed by the government of the country of which the monarch is head...
s, including the 1936 Bloodhound which The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh bought in 1962.
The 1928 commissioned HMS Monica, later renamed HMS Rion, served as a mine hunter during World War II. Purchased by Aristotle Onassis
Aristotle Onassis
Aristotle Sokratis Onassis , commonly called Ari or Aristo Onassis, was a prominent Greek shipping magnate.- Early life :Onassis was born in Karatass, a suburb of Smyrna to Socrates and Penelope Onassis...
from war surplus, she was refitted and renamed Arion and presented as a wedding present to Rainier III, Prince of Monaco
Rainier III, Prince of Monaco
Rainier III, Prince of Monaco , styled His Serene Highness The Sovereign Prince of Monaco, ruled the Principality of Monaco for almost 56 years, making him one of the longest ruling monarchs of the 20th century.Though he was best known outside of Europe for having married American...
when he married actress Grace Kelly
Grace Kelly
Grace Patricia Kelly was an American actress who, in April 1956, married Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, to become Princess consort of Monaco, styled as Her Serene Highness The Princess of Monaco, and commonly referred to as Princess Grace.After embarking on an acting career in 1950, at the age of...
. His Sovereign Highness
Serene Highness
His/Her Serene Highness is a style used today by the reigning families of Liechtenstein and Monaco. It also preceded the princely titles of members of some German ruling and mediatised dynasties as well as some non-ruling but princely German noble families until 1918...
renamed her Deo Juvante II and she was used by the newlyweds for their honeymoon cruising the Mediterranean. The yacht is now owned and operated by Quasar Expeditions in the Galápagos Islands as the M/Y Grace.
The 1937 commissioned M.Y. Philante was built on behalf of Sir Thomas Sopwith
Thomas Sopwith
Sir Thomas Octave Murdoch Sopwith, CBE, Hon FRAeS was an English aviation pioneer and yachtsman.-Early life:...
, the name an amalgam of his wife Phyllis and Sopwith's Christian names. It was used by Sopwith to attend America's Cup
America's Cup
The America’s Cup is a trophy awarded to the winner of the America's Cup match races between two yachts. One yacht, known as the defender, represents the yacht club that currently holds the America's Cup and the second yacht, known as the challenger, represents the yacht club that is challenging...
races and regatta
Regatta
A regatta is a series of boat races. The term typically describes racing events of rowed or sailed water craft, although some powerboat race series are also called regattas...
's, including the 1938 regatta at Hankø
Hankø
Hankø Island is located in the Oslo Fjord, Østfold county, Norway. It used to be the property of the Dano-Norwegian king, the site where the king hunted deer. Later an island of retreat, notable visitors are the Norwegian king, Princess Märtha Louise of Norway,and her husband Ari Behn...
in eastern Norway. After the outbreak of World War II, the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
requisitioned M.Y. Philante as an escort vessel for convoys crossing the Atlantic, and then as a school ship for training convoy escorts in 1942. Returned to Sopwith in 1946, she was sold to the Norwegian Government as the promised royal yacht of King Haakon
Haakon VII of Norway
Haakon VII , known as Prince Carl of Denmark until 1905, was the first king of Norway after the 1905 dissolution of the personal union with Sweden. He was a member of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg...
. After an extensive refit in Norway, on 17 May 1948 the ship's captain, Commander Christian Monsen, raised the command pennant on the renamed Norge
HNoMY Norge
One of only two remaining Royal Yachts in Europe, HNoMY Norge is the Royal Yacht of the King of Norway. The ship's name Norge is Norwegian for Norway....
for the first time, and on 9 June the Royal Yacht was handed over to King Haakon. She remains today one of only two Royal yachts still in service.
Gelyce class
In the early 1900s the Nicholson brothers developed a new motorised craft which would enable the owners to come from their "big-boats" before and after the competitions. Named the Gelyce, it was an amalgam of the first and last letter of their respective wives: Gertie, Lucy, and Constance. After building at least ten for the Nicholson family to develop the design, they began producing the design for others. Charles E. Nicholson claimed that the Gelyce yacht tenders, with a clean bottom, a sound propeller and a Daimler 105 hp engine, would have been able to produce 20 knots (39 km/h), as a matter of fact the best speed recorded was 21.5 knots (42 km/h). The owners included Major Sir Digby R Peel MC, Sir Hanson Rowbotham JP and Lt Commander Sir Warden Chilcott DL MP JP - whose boat is now owned under the name Herring Gull by Peter de SavaryPeter de Savary
Peter John de Savary is an English entrepreneur and a former Chairman of Millwall F.C. In the 1999 Sunday Times Rich List, he was placed in 971st place with an estimated fortune of £21 million, but was not listed in the top thousand places in subsequent editions.-Biography:De Savary built his...
. Another 50 ft Gelyce is still in existence at Bordeaux Boat Museum lent by Mr. Voisin of Villefrance, as is the original Peel commissioned boat.
Northwind II
In 1966, Camper and Nicholsons built the classic motor yacht Chambel IV, renamed Northwind IINorthWind II
Northwind II is a classic 1960s luxury motor yacht, notable for the historic importance of her design.-History:Northwind II was built in 1966 at Camper and Nicholsons in Southampton, England. Launched as Chambel IV, she was renamed by her present owner in 1970...
by her subsequent owner in 1970. Northwind II's interior was decorated by Maison Jansen
Maison Jansen
Maison Jansen was a Paris-based interior decoration office founded in 1880 by Dutch-born Jean-Henri Jansen and continuing in practice until 1989...
, the illustrious design firm whose clientele included the Kennedy White House, Coco Chanel, and the Shah of Iran. In 2010 Northwind II was fully rebuilt and upgraded, her interior expertly restored. As one of the few remaining complete Jansen commissions, she has attracted great interest from connoisseurs of 20th-century interior design. Most recently she was featured in the August 2011 issue of Architectural Digest
Architectural Digest
Architectural Digest is an American monthly magazine. Its principal subject is interior design, not — as the name of the magazine might suggest — architecture more generally. The magazine is published by Condé Nast Publications and was founded in 1920, by the Knapp family, who sold it in 1993...
. She is now privately owned in the Mediterranean.
External links
- Camper & Nicholsons International, Specialize in the sale, purchase, charter, marketing, management and construction of yachts.
- Camper and Nicholsons Yachting
- Camper and Nicholsons Marinas
- Full History of Camper and Nicholsons
- CNI and CampInteractive Partnership