It’s amazing what comes up when you write a weblog like this… I thought someone might be interested in acquiring this little piece of J Class history.
Peter Davies was for many years sales director for Southampton Yacht Services, and was involved in rescuing many fine old classic yachts for refitting by the yard – and along the way accumulated a few interesting items.
Here’s one that’s for sale – legendary J class racing yacht Velsheda’s original hatch, replaced in her major refit a few years ago.
Velsheda was designed by Charles Ernest Nicholson and built in 1933 by Camper and Nicholsons at Gosport, Hampshire for businessman William Lawrence Stephenson. Between 1933 and 1936, she won many races and competed with other great yachts including Britannia, Endeavour and Shamrock V. She was laid up in 1937.
Velsheda was later rescued from her Hamble mud berth in 1984 and economically refitted for charter work with a new steel mast and
limited interior.
In 1996 she was sold to a new owner and relaunched after a complete rebuild in 1997 by Southampton Yacht Services
(SYS).
When her hull was delivered to SYS in 1996 it came with a shipping container containing deck furniture removed from her by a previous owner and partly restored by his crew at the time. However, during the 1997 restoration new hatches and a new deckhouse were constructed by SYS, so the old hatch was no longer needed…
