Fife Regatta 2022

[isla]

Herself and I were down in Ayrshire earlier this week. The Fife Regatta was on, but initially we thought our schedule would not allow us to see any of the races. However, lucky for us, the Saturday race around the Cumbrae islands was cancelled due to high winds and a new race was scheduled to run on Monday. This race started at Rothesay on the north end of Bute, the yachts sailed a little way north up towards Loch Striven, then rounded a marker, headed back toward the mainland just north of Largs, around another marker and back to Rothesay.
We managed to get a good vantage point opposite the Largs marker and I got some photos.

The latest official photos have not appeared on the website yet, but here's a link to the 2013 gallery.
https://www.fiferegatta.com/gallery/2013-gallery

And the regatta homepage..
https://www.fiferegatta.com/

This is Lady Anne rounding the mark off Largs..

Lady Anne2.jpg

[isla]

Our guest house accommodation was in Fairlie, which is where the Fife dynasty began. William Fife I built his first yachts on the beach at Fairlie.

This is Mariquita approaching the same mark. She was designed by William Fife III, and built and launched at Fairlie in 1911.

Mariquita.jpg

[John Meachen]

Very pretty boats.

[Hwyl]

Fast and bonnie. My lottery winnings boat.

[neil.henderson]

Lovely yachts sailed in a beautiful part of the world (I used to sail out of Helensburgh in my younger days) - I believe the Portsoy festival was also on just recently.

Thanks for the photos.

Regards Neil

[peter radclyffe]

i knew this yacht mariquita  at pin mill in 1972

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

i knew this yacht mariquita  at pin mill in 1972

So did I. I came across her again when I bought Kukri at the Berthon in 1998. Looking absolutely stunning and very properly cared for. She has since changed hands and it’s good to see her in commission again.

Here she is as a houseboat at Woodbridge in the 1950s before she moved to Pin Mill:



Nice little article by Elaine Bunting here:

https://www.yachtingworld.com/blogs/...5ft-fife-69197

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

A bit more on the Mariquita here:

https://www.fairlieyachts.com/blog/t...ud+at+Pin+Mill

[isla]

This is Mariella, designed by Alfred Mylne and built in 1938 at the Fife yard in Fairlie.

Mariella.jpg

[isla]

Moonbeam III designed by William Fife III and built in 1903.

Moonbeam3.jpg


She was originally a gaff yawl.

[isla]

Moonbeam IV built in 1914

Moonbeam4.jpg

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

The two Moonbeams are stunners.

But why has the Lady Anne got such an ugly flat headed topsail? She looks like she is flying a staysail there.

If I recall correctly, she was drummed out of the Brownies a few years ago for having fitted a hollow spruce mast with … er … carbon fibre … inside, but I think that was replaced. Surely she can do better?

[peter radclyffe]

thanks Andrew

[isla]

The two Moonbeams are stunners.

But why has the Lady Anne got such an ugly flat headed topsail? She looks like she is flying a staysail there.

If I recall correctly, she was drummed out of the Brownies a few years ago for having fitted a hollow spruce mast with … er … carbon fibre … inside, but I think that was replaced. Surely she can do better?

I don't know why, but it seems to serve her well - she was the first boat to the Skelmorlie marker and went on to win the race. She came second overall for the regatta, with Mariella coming first.
You can see from the results table that The Lady Anne retired from race 5 - she broke her topmast.
https://www.fiferegatta.com/wp-conte...-2022-v1.0.pdf

[elf]

Facebook has been full of photographs. Such stately and stunning boats, even though the weather has not been felicitous.

[Thad]

I believe topsails should be flat.

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

I believe topsails should be flat.

I think that one should add draft in light airs but the topsail should be generally fairly flat.

What I meant was that the head is almost parallel to the horizon. I think it looks ugly.

[bamamick]

From a time when yacht designers took aesthetics into consideration. How wonderful!

Mickey Lake

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

There are no slow Fifes. There are no ugly Fifes.

All Fifes are fast and bonny.

There are no poor man’s Fifes.

[isla]

I didn't post this photo earlier because she doesn't carry a sail number and I was not sure which boat it was.
She is Kentra, designed by William Fife III, built at the Fife yard and launched in 1923.
I keep looking to see if the regatta website has updated the photo gallery with images from this year's event, but so far they have not.

Kentra.jpg

[isla]

In Fairlie there is a memorial to the Fife dynasty.
It depicts ‘The Lady Anne’ and was designed by John Macfie of Fairlie.

memorial.jpg

memorial2.jpg


Fife
Yachtbuilders, Fairlie, 1803-1939

This landmark stands on the site of the boatyard
where yachts were designed by three generations
of the Fife family.

Over 900 boats were built here by local skilled craftsmen.
The golden dragon on the bow and the wheatsheaf
near the stern signified the unsurpassed elegance
of a Fife yacht built in Fairlie.

[lupussonic]

I drove a friend home to Greenock years ago, and visited the former Fife yard. I hoped to find a rivet or a plane iron. Nothing left, all gone. The boats are the only thing left, and long may they continue to exist.

Thanks for the thread Isla.

[isla]

^ You're more than welcome Martin. I'm just glad that I got a chance to see some of these wonderful boats.

Seeing as how Scot (or somebody) has seen fit to make this a sticky (thank you!), I will try to drip feed some more Fife info whenever I can.