The Yacht Insider: Another Century, Cintra
One of the world’s oldest 12-Meter yachts is celebrating a birthday this year. Her name is Cintra, and she is nothing less than 100 years of history.
July 13, 2009
It's hard to believe the 12-Meter class is 100 years old, but proof is floating on her lines in the Mediterranean this summer. Her name is Cintra, and she has a century of sailing history packed into a 61-foot hull.
The beautifully restored 12-Meter, Cintra, turns 100 on the Mediterranean regatta circuit this season.
William Fife III, a third-generation yacht builder in Scotland who has been inducted into the America’s Cup Hall of Fame, designed and built her at the same yard where he penned the plans for Sir Thomas Lipton’s America’s Cup racers Shamrock I and Shamrock III. It was Scottish yachtsman Andrew Coats, a member of the Paisley thread-making family, who commissioned Cintra in the early 1900s, saw her launch in 1909, and raced her extensively for the next decade, amassing 13 wins during her first year alone.
She had several owners after Coats gave her up in 1919, and she floated in various states of fine maintenance and troubling disrepair until 1990, when naval architect Franco Giorgetti began an extensive restoration at La Bussola shipyard in Italy. Using historical photographs and books, he had brought her back to life enough by 1999 to entice a new owner—a collector of Fife-designed hulls, who did further research and another restoration effort in 2002.
A magnificent spread of sail
The work is downright incredible. When Cintra sailed for last month’s Portofino Rolex Trophy off the Italian Riviera, she was an absolute vision alongside her fellow classic 12-Meter, Varuna (whom she bested on handicap time to take second place in her class). Cintra also is scheduled to participate in this month’s Trofeo Accademia di La Spezia regatta as well as in September’s Classic Week in Monaco, Royal Regatta Cannes, and Les Voiles de Saint Tropez.
Cintra’s owner hopes the world is noting the yacht’s continued performance and style as he attempts to sell her into the next phase of her storied life. His asking price through Ocean Independence is €1.5 million.
Is that a value that will attract buyers in today’s market? We’ll see.
Keep in mind that in the year Cintra was built, the Sears-Roebuck catalog in the United States listed the kinds of silk neckties favored by yachtsmen for a price of just 29 cents.
Kim Kavin is an award-winning writer, editor and photographer who specializes in marine travel. She is the author of five books including Dream Cruises: The Insider’s Guide to Private Yacht Vacations, and is editor of the online yacht vacation magazine www.CharterWave.com. Kim also edits www.BoatNameGame.com, which invites readers to submit and comment on funny, interesting, and bizarre boat names.
