Vintage Schooner - A Glimpse of Maritime History

"Schooner Sunshine" is a two masted gaff rigged schooner. She measures 31m over the deck and has a beam of 5.6m and a draft of 3.4m Her total sail area is 5,296 square feet.

The hull and rig are exactly faithful to the original 1900 design.

The interior which is hand crafted from teak and rosewood has been compromised from the original layout to allow for the required modern safety standards, such as the 4 watertight bulkheads. The deck is laid down in long thick lengths of solid teak planks over the steel beams, and caulked with cotton in the traditional way. The masts and spars are all of Sitka Spruce and the standing rigging is of galvanized steel.

Her hull is Dutch marine grade A steel, and she has been built in Yangon under the strict supervision of a Lloyd's surveyor, to Lloyds SSC plan approval. Yangon (formerly Rangoon) was chosen for the build as the facility at Myanmar Shipyards is highly suited to the job. Building and handicraft techniques can still be found in Myanmar (formerly Burma) that are as close as one can find to the skills originally employed in the Scotland of the early 20 th century.

The construction began in late 1999. She was launched in 2003 and shifted to the fitting out berth. In October 2004 the Myanmar Shipyards officially handed her over at a gracious ceremony fit for a super tanker, and away she sailed, first destination Phuket, Thailand, but only after a maiden cruise through the spectacular uninhabited islands of the Miek Archipelago.

After some cruising in Thailand and Malaysia, she arrived on the Cote d'Azur in early June 2005 after a trip with stopovers in 13 different lands.

Although there are many survivors in the cutter category, few classic schooners still exist today, so it was thought appropriate in building a replica, that this should be borne in mind. Also the early 1900's was probably the time when sailing ships and yachts were at the height of their evolution, before steam and diesel engines and racing rating rules began to interfere with the purity of their original function and beauty. Looking into the future it is also likely that there will be a reduction in the numbers of original vessels in existence, due to the high and ever increasing costs of maintaining these few remaining original vessels.

The easier upkeep of a new and well-built replica should ensure, with good luck, her survival long into the future enabling the next generations a glimpse of a part of their maritime history, which might otherwise be lost.

The Company offers the details of this vessel in good faith but cannot guarantee or warrant the accuracy of this information nor warrant the condition of the vessel. A buyer should instruct his agents, or his surveyors, to investigate such details as the buyer desires validated. This vessel is offered subject to prior sale, price change, or withdrawal without notice.

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