Philip Rhodes 45 ft Bermudan Sloop 1953 - Sold

Built in 1953 by Abeking & Rasmussen to a design by Philip L Rhodes - one of America's leading yacht designers of the period; UNDINA is of special interest as a shoal draft yacht – a superb example of his centre board hull with a 5 ft 6 in draft increasing to 8 ft 6 in when lowered. Seven sister ships were built but this combination of Rhodes design and A&R was considered the best at the time. All owners including UNDINA’s first; Roddy Williams are reported to have declared the yachts to be very fast, comfortable and seaworthy.

The large cockpit is another notable feature, typical of many American fifties yachts, and a comfortable asset for a large crew. Her sheer is elegant with a well-balanced coach roof and deckhouse. The rig and sail plan is well proportioned and simple for both single handed cruising and efficient racing with a fair aspect ratio of 2.3. Compared with English yachts of this era, UNDINA has a broader beam at 11 ft 9 in - making for a hull of considerable initial stability and offsetting the effect of the comparatively shallow draft.

Fitted out to race to CIM specifications for the classic regatta circuit in the Med, she is authentic in every way and with both a furling forestay and one for hanking on sails she has a very competitive handicap. While UNDINA can be sailed hard with her racing crew she can be easily cruised under full sail by two people.

Since 2014 UNDINA has undergone an extensive structural and cosmetic refit, which will allow her next owner to cruise or classic race with little to do save passage plan and pick their crew.

Built for Roddy Williams long time mayor of Hamilton Bermuda, She was the first ocean racing yacht to be built abroad for a Bermudian. To this day she bears her original sail number KB 1, passed on by former owner Warren Browne, he having also sailed as crew in the 1950s. In 1984 she came into the possession of Ross Gannon who with Nat Benjamin founded the Gannon and Benjamin (wooden) boat yard on Martha's Vineyard. In the nine years of his ownership Ross converted her rig from a 7/8th fractional to masthead sloop and transformed the dilapidated cosmetic state in which he found her, albeit her original structural design and make up was sound.

Living on board, in due course Ross advertised her for sale and her seductive shape caught the eye of Tim Blackman, who in a joint venture with Mart Coad, purchased her in 1993. Ross prepared her for the voyage and an amateur crew from the UK flew over to sail her back.

She crossed to Lymington in 28 days but with the recession biting hard in 1994, the decision was made to put her on the market. John Swansborough bought and kept her on the East coast maintaining her fine condition.

In 2001 up for sale once more, Griff Rhys-Jones' family were introduced to UNDINA. Having looked at every wooden yacht available up and down the East coast Griff found nothing to match her - so a deal was done. He commissioned the Staley yard at Faversham to give her a refit over that winter and she was to emerge in beautiful condition the following spring. Griff then sailed UNDINA across the North Sea and through the Kiel Canal to the Flensburg Classic Regatta, where she was the only British yacht participating, before cruising through the Baltic to St Petersburg and back to Helsinki. This trip is recorded in his book “To the Baltic with Bob”. Since then she has been something of a star on screen thanks to Griff’s enthusiastic impressions of “Three men in a boat” and thereafter – some cold English summers later - he has cruised and raced this “drop dead gorgeous boat” in the warmer waters of the Med. Indeed when last raced there she took a series of firsts to win the Classic Division at the Marseilles Les Voiles du Vieux Port Regatta. In due course Griff moved on to a larger – selling UNDINA to her current owner.

- Carvel built of mahogany planking over oak frames with a shoal draft keel
- All bronze fastenings
- Bronze centre board and centre board truck
- Lead ballast keel with the rudder is hung the full depth of the vessel
- Teak deck
- Varnished teak superstructure

- Sliding hatch in raised aft section of trunk cabin and wash board access
- Companionway steps down over engine casing
- Mixed teak and mahogany joinery with solid teak and holly cabin sole
- Good ventilation and light - also with chromed opening ports
- Sliding chart table, cabinet and seat to port with stowage lockers below
- Instruments outboard and panel aft behind steps
- Quarter berth with teak chart stowage cabinet above across to starboard
- Large top loading fridge / icebox; doubling as another chart area and shelves outboard
- Half bulkheads fwd

Galley to port
- Stainless steel sink and draining board with pumped mixer tap and manual pump
- Stowage under
- Roberts gimballed 3 burner hob and oven
- Stowage space outboard and above for plates and utensils
- Semi bulkheads

Saloon
- 2 x Settee berths with drawer stowage outboard
- 2 x Pilot berths above and outboard each side
- Gimballed mahogany drop leaf dining table with bottle stowage locker insert
- Stowage below the berths and access to the bilge space and tanks below
- Bulkheads forward with oil lamp to port

Head compartment forward to port with grating sole
- Lavac manual WC
- Stainless wash basin and showerwith stowage outboard
- 2 x doors in this section enable the head as an en suite for privacy

Fore cabin
- 2 x Cchromed opening ports
- Double berth offset to port with ample sail stowage below and lockers outboard
- Full height hanging locker to starboard
- Upholstered seat fwd with toolbox stowage below
- Mahogany battens over frames to stbd
- Hatch in deck head to fore deck
- Forward again is the chain locker also with a dorade vent and cover

Rig
- Spruce mast and boom
- Dismountable furling forestay
- Spruce spinnaker pole

Sails
- Racing mainsail Dacron by Hood 2009 – slab reefing 2 reefs
- Large light racing genoa; Dacron cross cut by Hood 2009
- Medium cruising genoa 2008 for furler
- Genoa. 2008
- Heavy cruising genoa. 2000
- Small jib 2009
- Large spinnaker 2005
- Medium spinnaker 2008
- Cruising chute 2003
- Spare jib
- Spare spinnaker

Canvas
- Spray hood for cockpit
- Mainsail boom cover
- Full bimini cover new 2010
- Covers for hatches, winches, wheel, binnacle and chart plotter pedestal
- Full set of plastic skirts protecting hull in winter and or from intense heat
- 10 matching KB1 spray jackets
- Regatta pontoon storage bag

From aft
- Wide side decks - the broad beam apparent on deck as well as below
- Safety lines fore and aft both sides deck length
- Chromed stern light fitting
- Chromed ensign staff fitting
- Chromed bronze pushpit and stanchions forward supporting stainless steel guard rails
- Large lazarette stowage for sheets and warps vented by a chromed dorade
- Chromed fairleads and cleats
- Main sheet ash blocks and chromed bronze track
- Original chromed mainsheet winches and handles on teak pedestals abaft cockpit
- Teak box with engine start instruments
- Teak and brass helm wheel and chromed compass binnacle
- Large cockpit with side seats at deck level and deep lockers beneath on both sides
- Chromed rubbing strakes over coamings each side
- 2 x Anderson 40 ST spinnaker winches on steel pedestals and chromed cleats outboard
- 2 x Anderson 52 ST genoa winches on steel pedestals and chromed cleats outboard
- Leather winch handle pockets
- Edson manual bilge pump cockpit port side
- Shore power connect cockpit stbd
- Engine control cockpit stbd
- Large inspection hatch below cockpit sole
- Steering compass in chromed binnacle and supporting chromed instrument console
- Trunk cabin
- 2 x Dorades on teak boxes aft
- Chromed port and starboard running lights
- Varnished teak hand rails each side forward
- Mounting for life raft
- Teak hatch over saloon
- Mast
- Anderson 40 ST main halyard winch stbd; 2 x stainless cam cleats on mast
- Original single speed halyard winch port; 2 x stainless cam cleats on mast
- 2 x spinnaker halyards
- Genoa halyard
- Anderson 12 ST reefing winch on boom
- Hatch fwd of mast in coach roof
- Toed-in forward end mounting dorade and box venting the forward cabin
- Teak gas bottle lockers each side of the dorade
- 2 x Deck light prisms
- Chromed genoa track on teak cap rail
- Chromed inboard jib track
- Hatch in the foredeck over fore cabin
- Chromed cleats

- Muir electric anchor windlass with remote control to socket in port cover board
- Stainless steel CQR anchor and mounting for bow roller
- 20 Kg Bruce chromed anchor
- Panama eyes for mooring warps port and stbd
- Teak swim ladder with bronze fittings

- Vetus 40 HP Diesel engine
- Engine instruments; RPM, temp, oil pressure, volts - by companion steps / chart table
- Hydraulic steering
- 2 x 12 V 115 Ah engine batteries
- 1 x 118 Ah windlass battery (below fwd cabin berth)
- 2 x 240 V sockets
- Inverter
- Companionway lighting
- 2 x stainless fuel tanks
- 2 x plastic water tanks under saloon settee
- Eberspacher diesel powered heating system (currently not on the boat)

- Steering compass in chromed binnacle
- Radar
- Simrad DS 34 colour chart plotter cockpit
- Simrad CX 44 master chart plotter below
- Simrad AP 16 Autohelm
- Furuno Navtex
- Tacktick windspeed
- Icom IC M 80 VHF
- Chromed clock, barometer and
- Blaupunkt CD player and speakers

- Life raft stowed on teak chocks over coach
- Gas monitor
- 3 x fire extinguishers
- Fire blanket
- Seame active radar reflector
- Automatic Rule bilge pump
- Electric bilge pump
- Manual bilge pump

2015- 2016 Refit by Traditional Shipwright Services Poole
- Hull below waterline stripped back to bare wood
- Furniture joinery inside main saloon removed for access into the bilge
- Where found rotten; floors and frames removed
- New laminated sections of frames made, scarf joined and bolted with bronze
- New oak floors made, fitted and bolted to frames and wood keel
- Where rotten; planking removed from the bilge area both sides
- New mahogany boards fitted, bedded and screwed with bronze screws
- Planking below water line faired and coated and antifouled
- Rudder re-bolted
- Furniture joinery re-fitted
- Some topsides planking replaced with khaya mahogany on stbd side along sheer strake
- Topsides sanded, filled and faired and painted with Epifanes Puro two pack
- All fittings were removed from deck, covering board, cabin sides and coamings
- All bright work was stripped back to bare, teak sanded and prepared for varnishing
- Varnish was built up with10 coats applied
- All fittings cleaned up and re-fitted
- Engine major service