Martin Nott’s elegant Diamond, a recreation of the original Victorian skimming-dish half rater of the same name built by Charles Sibbick in 1897, is for sale.
The original Diamond was exhibited at the Imperial Institute, Kensington; sold first to the Mediterranean, she then went to Russia.
Built by committed Sibbick enthusiast Martin along with Alistair Munro and other the students and staff at the Boat Building Academy at Lyme Regis, the present-day Diamond is complete with appropriate fittings and some nice touches, including an 1897 penny under her mast and lead from Witch, an original Sibbick yacht, in her keel.
For more details and photos of Diamond, click here.
Read about Witch and follow Martin’s restoration of her here. Another Sibbick racing yacht, Riva, is for sale here.
Born in the mid-19th century, Sibbick was a builder before turning to designing and building full-time, building small racing and cruising yachts, centreboard sailing boats and steam launches on the Isle of Wight.
Though a late starter, Sibbick and his company built over 300 yachts before his life was tragically cut short – he went missing from a small rowing boat in Cowes Harbour in the morning of January 1912, and his body was later found near the Harbour entrance.