On board the 36m Summers & Payne yacht Cariad

Cariad was designed by Arthur Payne and built in 1896 by Summers & Payne for Windham Thomas Wyndham-Quin, the 4th Earl of Dunraven. During his five-year ownership, Dunraven occasionally raced Cariad, without distinction, but more often he cruised on her. “The vessel has a roving commission,” reported The Yachtsman about one such cruise. “The noble earl, who is proceeding to sea for health as well as pleasure, having decided to go just where the wind will take him.”

The work was jointly project-managed by Australian Des Kearns and Thai Kanchala “Ked” Krissadaraksa, whose company Popeye Marine Services employed up to 55 predominantly Thai people to work on Cariad. The hull was virtually rebuilt with all the steel frames and almost all the planking being replaced (the latter in takhian thong, a naturally oily timber native to Laos that is harder than teak).

A great deal of work was also done to the decks, rig and interior, but in 2008 when she was “pretty well a perfect boat but not quite finished”, according to Kearns, Williamson was badly hit by the Global Financial Crisis and had to put her on the market.

Cariad was then purchased by a Singapore/Chinese national who kept her in Raffles Marina in Singapore. But for the next 13 years she was never used, never lifted out of the water and barely maintained.

“We managed to retain the gimballing mahogany saloon table, which we think might be original”

She deteriorated from the outside in – her underwater planking was eaten away by teredo worms – and from the inside out, a combination of the hot, humid climate and the lack of internal ventilation resulted in condensation pouring down the inside of the planking. She even sank on no fewer than three occasions, albeit, thanks to the limited depth of the marina, only by about a metre. “It was neglect, coupled with indifference,” says Kearns.

Then, in 2021, along came Tim Hartnoll, chairman of shipping company X-Press Feeders, who bought Cariad and immediately commissioned PSS to carry out another restoration. An invaluable addition to the team was British naval architect Paul Spooner. This time about seven per cent of the frames and half of the planking had to be renewed, along with the stern post and stem.

“Because all of the joinery had to be removed to carry out this work, we took the opportunity to reconfigure the layout aft to incorporate an additional guest cabin and day head,” says Spooner.

The new interior is composed of teak panels and takhian thong framing, varnished with Epifanes and Awlwood; semigloss white painted overheads; teak soles; Corian worktops in the galley and heads; and Italian leather upholstery. “We managed to retain the gimballing mahogany saloon table which we think might be original,” says Kearns.

Many of the stainless-steel deck fittings were replaced with bronze ones, and new bronze winches were supplied by The Classic Winch Company. Cariad was originally built with a tiller “but”, says Spooner, “not surprisingly, within a few months it was found necessary to replace it with wheel steering”.

That steering gear has now been extensively refurbished and no longer has any slack in it, and a Jefa autopilot has been installed. While the main mast was saved (but only after extensive repairs), the other 10 spars had to be replaced. New narrow-panelled sails were made by Rolly Tasker Sails in Phuket.

The Gardner 8LXB diesel engine had somehow survived its three sinkings, “and after it was thoroughly cleaned up it ran beautifully once again and now purrs like a kitten”, says Kearns.

She sank on no fewer than three occasions. “It was neglect coupled with indifference”

But otherwise, new machinery and systems were fitted throughout including a Kohler generator, Frigomar air-conditioning, a Raritan sewage treatment system, and an Aquamiser watermaker. The whole boat had to be rewired, partly due to water damage but also because the new layout determined that the main distribution board had to be relocated.

Almost all of the craftspeople who worked on the second restoration had also contributed to the first, and it is hard to imagine how soul destroying it must have been to see the appalling state of Cariad when she returned to the yard. “At first they were angry and disappointed,” says Kearns, “and we knew it was going to be very difficult to motivate them.

But then they just knuckled down and got on with it. As time went on, we got the spirits right up to normal levels. And the ‘build back better’ slogan wasn’t just empty words.”

But not only did the whole team feel a great deal of private satisfaction from getting the project finished – and this time seeing Cariad sail for the first time for 30 years – their efforts were also publicly recognised when she won the Classic Rebuilt Yachts category at the BOAT International World Superyacht Awards.

“I am absolutely delighted,” says Hartnoll who was in Venice, along with Spooner, to receive the award in May, “but mostly for Des, Ked and everyone who worked on the boat.”

This winter, Cariad will race in the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta; she will then come to the UK to take part in the Royal Thames Yacht Club’s 250th anniversary regatta in the Solent next year; and then she will be based in the Med where she will compete in some classic boat regattas. “I think that is where she belongs,” said Hartnoll.

First published in the November 2024 issue of BOAT International. Get this magazine sent straight to your door, or subscribe and never miss an issue.