Fulmar being restored
The Restoration Journey of Fulmar: A 1930 Fife Design
Fulmar is a Fife design from 1930. She is a direct sister ship from the same drawing as Falcon. Below is a short introduction written by the current owner of Fulmar. She is currently in Scotland for a refit not far from where she was born on the Clyde. The Background picture is Fulmar currently in the shed for refit. The main picture is a sneak peak of the new position for the mast.
Bringing Fulmar Back to Life
In May 2022, Fulmar started undergoing restoration at Rosneath on the Clyde, not far from where she was built back in 1930. Four sailing friends from Scotland, assisted by the legend Ian Nicolson and encouraged by Duncan Walker and Barney Sandeman, have commenced the work to bring her back to Concours condition and to return her into a full-on racing boat.
The engine, propellor shaft, windlass, heavy batteries, and cabling have all been removed, along with the ‘cruising’ equipment like the fridge, etc. This has drawn more than 350 kg from the boat and from critical positions.
Fulmar's Racing Future and Warm Welcome
We had the opportunity to see the sister ship to Fulmar at the Fife regatta in Largs. None of us had ever been on an 8mR before, and we were left a little bit stunned by the majesty of the fully rigged Falcon. Owner Jan-Willem Ypma and his crew could not have been more welcoming, and we started to develop ideas as we viewed the boat and also the scale of the job. However, our optimism was further challenged when John Lammerts van Bueren met us on the pontoon and said that we would need to move the mast position. This was apparently not a suggestion but a well-meant instruction – well, we would need to do it to compete with Falcon, so the decision was easily made.
A new mast from Collars is now on the boat, and new rigging is being made to suit the new mast position, and new sails will follow once the rig has been finalised. We want to thank the exceptionally warm and friendly welcome given to us by the Class so far- and we haven’t even put the boat in the water and sailed yet.
Originally we planned to buy an 8mR for the 2024 Worlds at Royal Northern and Clyde YC as we thought it would be great to have a local boat sailed by RN&CYC Members (and, of course, she had to be a Fife). Still, we were encouraged so much by IEMA Members that we now have re-arranged our sailing plans and are considering competing in the Mediterranean Classic boat events following the Worlds too.
The Fulmar team aims to launch her in May and work the boat up sailing on the Clyde in the months prior to the Worlds. It will be fascinating to see how we fare within the Fleet, but as it is our first season, we have no great expectations. We are looking forward to the challenge, but we are mainly excited at the prospect of joining such a Fleet of beautiful boats and having fun, of course.
