Motor Yacht Conidaw 1939

Описание: Lying quietly in a classic yacht repair and restoration yard in the south of France is the motor yacht CONIDAW.

Built in 1939 in Rosneath by James A. Silvers Ltd to the design of John Bain for Mr. E. Waddilove, Conidaw was requisitioned by the Royal Navy at the outbreak of WWII serving mostly as an echographic sounding ship.

Then came May 1940, Operation Dynamo, and the evacutation of Dunkirk. Conidaw answered her call to duty again. Her time at both Calais and Dunkirk is well documented. On file we have photos of her entries in Lloyd’s Register of Yachts 1939, the Ministry of War Transport list showing when she was requisitioned from her owner in 1939, her entries in Airey Neave’s book ‘The Flames of Calais’, the book ‘The Evacuation from Dunkirk’ which is a transcript of the Naval Battle Summary and her entries in John de Winser’s book ‘BEF Ships before, at and after Dunkirk’.
She is also listed in ‘The Dunkirk List’ that was produced by Lt Col Orde in 1947.
Conidaw’s Skipper during the evacuations was Reginald Snelgrove and he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions. This is awarded for ‘gallantry during active operations against the enemy at sea’.

She survived the war almost unscathed and returned to use as a yacht first at the Royal Belgian Yacht Club and then on to meditteranean France.

Fast forward to 2023 and our hero found herself abandoned on the hard in La Ciotat, France but fortunately she is now the property, free and clear, of the Classic Works shipyard.

Classic Works had been asked to break her but for us this was unthinkable, so we absolved the owner of outstanding shipyard obligations and purchased her for preservation and hopefully future restoration.

The project is however too big for us to rationally take on ourselves but we have bought her some time but given the cost and space pressures of an active refit yard that time is unfortunately running out....

Her current state is rather sad looking, especially paint and brightwork after almost 15 years on land in the Med but underneath she is "all there".
She still totally has her shape and most of the hull planking is very good.
She has never been radically transformed over the years and has all the interesting and original equipment that she arrived with including her original Gardner engines, a single fin Vospers stabilizer system from the 1950s, and her engine driven anchor windlass.

Her history is illustrious, but she has many memories left to be made and is imminently deserving of restoration. In addition to her history, she is quite simply a solid, practical, and spacious cruising yacht with abundant prestige and originality.

She can be made new close to her original specification or discreetly modernized to today’s technology while maintaining her old-world charm.

Enjoy the video and if you like it please spread the word to help us find the person for Condaw's next century! Your questions and comments are welcome.