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ROYAL VISITS AND THE UK DEPARTURE
June, July and August have been extraordinarily busy months for
the Gipsy Moth Project. Having taken part in The Festival of the
Sea and been reviewed by Her Majesty The Queen at the Fleet Review,
Gipsy Moth was displayed to thousands of enthusiastic sailors
and holidaymakers at Cowes Week.
Royal Visits
July also saw the first royal visit to Gipsy Moth at her home
in Cowes when HRH The Duke of Edinburgh went on board and met
many of those closely associated with the restoration. Later that
day Gipsy Moth received the traditional nautical blessing from
the Archdeacon of the Isle of Wight. A further royal visit will
take place on 7 September when HRH The Princess Royal will see
Gipsy Moth at Greenwich and rededicates the vessel.
Southampton Boat Show
Following her visit to Greenwich Gipsy Moth will return to Southampton
to be the central exhibit afloat at the Boat Show. There will
also be a shore display for the many visitors and supporters of
the project.
Plymouth - the Departure of Gipsy Moth
The weekend of 24/25 September will see the culmination of so
many months of work, trials and tribulations for all those involved
with the project. A historic and great moment for all those concerned
who will be at Plymouth to see Gipsy Moth set sail on her second
circumnavigation. Huge crowds are expected on Plymouth Hoe and
a large spectator fleet will mark the departure at 1500 hours
on 25 September.
Gibraltar - Gipsy Moth joins the Blue Water Rally
On 17 October Gipsy Moth will "officially" join the
Blue Water Round the World Cruising Rally 2005-7 at Marina Bay,
Gibraltar. Here Rally yachts and their crews will assemble for
2 weeks of briefings, social activity and outings prior to the
main event - Departure Day, 30 October.
Keep up to date with detailed Gipsy Moth News on www.gipsymoth.org
A GREAT DAY - GIPSY MOTH IV IS RELAUNCHED
The sun shone, the band played, the champagne flowed and a true
piece of British maritime history took to the water again. It
was nearly 3 years ago when Paul Gelder, Editor of "Yachting
Monthly" spoke to us about his dream of having Gipsy Moth
restored and of her sailing again around the world to mark the
Centenary of the magazine and the 40th anniversary of Chichester's
voyage. There were times when we saw little chance of this dream
becoming reality but in late 2004 with the new owner and partner,
the UKSA, and CEO David Green as chief fund-raiser, things really
began to happen. The British Marine Industry and individuals gave
generously and Camper and Nicholsons agreed to take on the work
at cost.
Nonetheless work only started in January 2005 and the task has
taken over 9000 man hours, involving a core team of 10 or 11,
rising at times to 35. All those at the relaunch agreed that Camper
and Nicholsons and their part-time "workers" from the
UKSA had done a magnificent job, not only in preparing a national
treasure in immaculate condition but on time! The rudder, which
caused Chichester so many traumas, has also been redesigned and
the extension to the keel added by him in Sydney has been replaced.
She has been equipped with new winches, sails, standing and running
rigging, mostly given free by suppliers. But much of the gear
is still original. The main and mizzen masts, which were unanodised,
were sanded back and polished and now gleam like silver. Plenty
of work for the young crew members who will sail Gipsy Moth around
the world with the Blue Water Rally.
Within 24 hours Gipsy Moth was undertaking sail trials in the
Solent and on 28 June was privileged to take part in the Fleet
Review at Portsmouth. On this page we have highlighted the main
UK events in which Gipsy Moth will participate and where she will
be on public view before she leaves for Gibraltar and the Blue
Water Rally in late September. A proud day for everyone involved
and our congratulations to those who are making the dream come
true.
For all the news and more pictures, please go to www.gipsymoth.org
THE GIPSY MOTH IV RESTORATION MAKES EXTRAORDINARY PROGRESS
By February 2005 the Gipsy Moth IV Restoration Project had made
extraordinary progress. Thanks to the driving force of the UK
Sailing Academy (her new owners), Yachting Monthly and hundreds
of supporters (ranging from companies in the British Marine Industry
to enthusiastic individuals), Sir Francis Chichester's famous
yacht is now well under way to complete restoration at the Camper
and Nicholson yard at Gosport.
Supporters
Supporters from the Marine Industry include the British Marine
Federation, Crusader Sails, B&G, Lewmar, Barrus, Yanmar and
many others too numerous to mention. Plymouth Gin will be the
principal drink sponsor, helping to host the numerous fund-raising
events that will be organised to support the Project.
With the Project making such excellent progress, a number of key
dates have been confidently put in the diary:
20 Jun Launch at Camper and Nicholsons
30 Jun At the Festival of the Sea
Jun/Jul Sailing Trials
30 Jul Cowes Week
16 Sep Southampton Boat Show
25 Sep Departure from Plymouth
17 Oct Join Blue Water Rally 2005-7 yachts at Gibraltar
The Dedicated Gipsy Moth IV Website
We ask you to visit the Gipsy Moth IV dedicated website at www.gipsymoth.org
where, thanks to the marvels of modern communications, you can
take a virtual tour of the work in progress at Camper and Nicholsons.
THE STEPHEN THOMAS SAILING BURSARY - SUPPORT FOR YOUNG SAILORS
In January we carried the sad news on this website of the tragic
loss of our co-director, Stephen Thomas. Stephen lost his life
undertaking the last of many sailing challenges - sailing to 80
degrees north in the Arctic to 65 degrees south in Antarctica,
where he so sadly died on 13 January 2005.
Before leaving for Antarctica Stephen had made a considerable
personal donation to the Gipsy Moth IV Restoration Fund, underlining
his support not only for the Project but for its long-term aims
of encouraging a new generation of young sailors to get the most
out of sailing. The Stephen Thomas Sailing Bursary has been created
in order to support that ideal and the funds will provide places
to enable needy 16 to 20 year olds to sail on Gipsy Moth IV after
her restoration.
We invite you to visit the website www.stephenthomasmemorial.com
for further details and from which an application form may be
downloaded. Please help this worthy cause.
Please note that all text
content from this page is used with the kind permission
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