Thursday 19 April 2007

The vessel


Fettler is a Trintella 29, designed by the great E. G. Van de Stadt and built by Offshore Yachts in Royston, Hertfordshire. Her GRP (glass reinforced plastic, or fibreglass) hull was laid up in 1968 and then finished and launched in 1969.
The late 60s marked an interesting period in yacht-building history as the transition from wood to GRP construction really took hold. During this relatively brief transition phase, before shipbuilders were fully conversant with the properties of GRP, vessels were constructed to the same sort of specifications as they would have been in wood. As a result, the GRP hulls from this period are massively overbuilt and massively tough. Hence, many of them are still going strong today, forty years down the line.
Fettler underwent an extensive refit in the mid-90's before her then-owners sailed her from Bristol down to Mallorca. They lived aboard her for 5 or 6 years, before moving ashore and settling in Mallorca. Her previous owner bought her to be his base in the Med, but his plans subsequently changed and she has been on the hard for the last two years.
This is where we enter her story. For long months we have anticipated joining her and now it's only a few weeks to go. We will update our progress on this site regularly as we prepare Fettler for her return voyage to the UK and along the way, whenever we get the opportunity.
In the meantime, I'll add the photos we already have, to lay the foundations for what's to come.

2 comments:

Daniel said...

Where will the guns be mounted please?

Jim_Brodie said...

er...
We come in peace?