Morning Cloud was the name given by the British politician

Edward Heath Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 191617 July 2005), often known as Ted Heath, was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1975. Heath a ...

to a series of five yachts which he owned between 1969 and 1983.

The yachts

No. 1

Sparkman and Stephens

S&S 34 S&S 34 is a cruising and racing fibreglass monohull sailboat class. It was based on a design by Olin Stephens from Sparkman and Stephens after a commission from British yachtsman Michael Winfield. The design features a skeg-hung rudder and a ...

length Length is a measure of distance. In the International System of Quantities, length is a quantity with dimension distance. In most systems of measurement a base unit for length is chosen, from which all other units are derived. In the Inte ...

34 ft., year of launch 1969. Edward Heath won the

Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race The Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race is an annual event hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, starting in Sydney, New South Wales, on Boxing Day and finishing in Hobart, Tasmania. The race distance is approximately . The race is run i ...

with this boat in the same year. She was sold in December 1970 to Stewart Benest of

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label= Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west France. It is the ...

, who renamed her ''Nuage de Matin''. She sank off Gorey Castle, Jersey, on 2 September 1974, after the seas took her from her moorings.

No. 2

Designed by Sparkman and Stephens, length 42 ft., hull and deck material wood (mahogany), constructed by Lallows (UK), year of launch 1971. Heath used the boat in the

Admiral's Cup The Admiral's Cup was an international yachting regatta. For many years it was known as the unofficial world championship of offshore racing. The Admiral's Cup regatta was started in 1957 and was normally a biennial event (occurring in odd-numbe ...

of that year as part of the winning British team. At least two copies of the boat were built under licence from him.

No. 3

Designed by Sparkman and Stephens, length 44 ft. 9 ins., hull and deck material wood, constructed by Lallows (UK), year of launch 1973. It was used in the Admiral's Cup of that year, but Heath was only on board for the

Fastnet race The Fastnet Race is a biennial offshore yacht race organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club of the United Kingdom with the assistance of the Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes and the City of Cherbourg in France. The race is named after the Fast ...

because of other commitments. It was lost at sea on 5 September 1974 when it was hit by a large wave while en route to

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 Fl ...

from

Burnham-on-Crouch Burnham-on-Crouch is a town and civil parish in the Maldon District of Essex in the East of England. It lies on the north bank of the River Crouch. It is one of Britain's leading places for yachting. The civil parish extends east of the town ...

. Heath was not on board. Two of the seven crew drowned. It was insured by Lloyd's of London. This was only three days after ''Morning Cloud I'' (see above) sank.

No. 4

Designed by Sparkman and Stephens, length 45 ft., hull and deck material aluminium, constructed by Allday Aluminium of Gosport and

Camper and Nicholsons Camper and Nicholson was a yacht design and manufacturing company based in Gosport, England, for over two hundred years, constructing many significant vessels, such as Gipsy Moth IV and Prince Philip's yacht Bloodhound. Its customers included Th ...

(yard number 1390), year of launch 1975.

No. 5

composite Composite or compositing may refer to: Materials * Composite material, a material that is made from several different substances ** Metal matrix composite, composed of metal and other parts ** Cermet, a composite of ceramic and metallic materials ...

, year of launch 1977. In the

1979 Fastnet race The 1979 Fastnet Race was the 28th Royal Ocean Racing Club's Fastnet Race, a yachting race held generally every two years since 1925 on a 605-mile course from Cowes direct to the Fastnet Rock and then to Plymouth via south of the Isles of S ...

(which was part of the Admiral's Cup) it lost its rudder and failed to finish. Heath sold the boat in 1983.

References

External links

Photographs of ''Morning Cloud''

* Yacht no. 3
photo-a
https://web.archive.org/web/20110813215333/http://community.thisisplymouth.co.uk/_TED-HEATH-S-MORNING-CLOUD/photo/9923008/72100.html?setId=68592 photo-b] * Yacht no. 4
photo-a
https://web.archive.org/web/20110707100745/http://archive.ajaxnetphoto.com/v/MaritimeArchives/YachtByName/YachtsM-P/__YA_MORNING_CLOUD_79_2032.jpg.html photo-
photo-c
{{1976 shipwrecks Individual sailing vessels Sailing in the United Kingdom Maritime incidents in 1974 Maritime incidents in 1976 Edward Heath