''Gulvain'' is a ocean-racing

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

named after the mountain

Gaor Bheinn Gaor Bheinn, also known in English as Gulvain ( gd, Gadhail Bheinn), is a mountain in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. It is in Lochaber, south of Loch Arkaig and north of the road west of Fort William (from which it is usually climbed). It ...

(or "Gulvain"). Designed by Jack Laurent Giles for

Jack Rawlings John William "Jack" Rawlings (18 June 1923 – 21 September 2016) was an English amateur footballer who played as an inside forward. Career Rawlings played as an amateur for Enfield, Hayes and Hendon. He also represented touring team Middlese ...

, she was based on the earlier boats '' Maid of Malham'' and '' Myth of Malham''. She was built in Shoreham by Sussex Shipbuilding Company, owned by Rawlings, and launched on 27 June 1949. She was made from Birmabright, making her the first ocean racing yacht to be made from an aluminium alloy. Aluminium was used for strength, not weight: she displaces and weighs , including ballast. She was one of the first boats to have a metal

mast Mast, MAST or MASt may refer to: Engineering * Mast (sailing), a vertical spar on a sailing ship * Flagmast, a pole for flying a flag * Guyed mast, a structure supported by guy-wires * Mooring mast, a structure for docking an airship * Radio mast ...

. Her

hull Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in affi ...

has a reverse sheer, and she has a Masthead rig. She proved to be a very successful boat, winning her maiden race from

Cowes Cowes () is an English seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina, facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east bank. The two towns are linked by the Cowes Floa ...

to Dinard and back. She was forced to retire from the 1949 Fastnet Race, but performed well in the

Newport Bermuda Race The Newport Bermuda Race, commonly known as the ''Bermuda Race'', is a biennial, 635 nautical miles (1175 km) sailing yacht race from Newport, Rhode Island to the British island of Bermuda. According to its website, the Race is the oldest re ...

in 1950, and was first home in the first postwar transatlantic race from Bermuda to

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

immediately afterwards. She was skipped for both races by

Humphrey Barton Humphrey "Hum" Barton (1900–1980) was an English yachtsman who was influential in the development of deep-sea cruising in the 1950s and 1960s. He is best known as the founder of the Ocean Cruising Club. He was an author who wrote books abou ...

, and amongst the crew was Tim Heywood. She was bought by John Tassos in 1965, and by Robert Schyberg in 1988. She was renovated in 1991 and took part in her second Fastnet Race in 1991.

External links

Gulvain's websiteHumphrey Barton
from the Ocean Cruising Club (PDF, 3 pages) Sailing yachts designed by Laurent Giles Individual sailing vessels 1940s sailing yachts Sailing yachts of the United Kingdom Sailing yachts built in the United Kingdom {{Boat-stub