KATHY MANSFIELD A


century ago, the Clyde was home to some of the world’s most celebrated boat designers and builders. Craftsmen such as the three William Fifes, George Lennox Watson and Alfred Mylne made their


names in this period, but they were not the only ones. Other firms secured their place in history, too, producing boats that are still cherished as classics and sailed today. McGruer & Co is one such; a family business that worked to a very high standard for over a century from its foundation in 1897.


The designs of Ewing, James and, later, George


McGruer have stood the test of time, and for the first time since the company’s centenary, a McGruer regatta is being organised. Scheduled for 5-6 May, the event takes


place at Rhu Marina on the Gareloch, nearly opposite McGruer’s original Clynder yard. Organiser Gordon Drysdale, who sails the 1938 McGruer cutter Rowan IV, is passionate about the boats. “I have long felt that McGruer boats are not sufficiently celebrated – for their contemporary design advances, the pre-eminent build quality, and patronage by the royal family and Admiralty,” he says. “I am delighted that so many iconic McGruers are coming to the regatta, as well as various others by Scottish designers.”


The event has attracted classic boats of all sorts, not just McGruers, and from as far afield as Essex, Guernsey and the US. Paul Goss, longstanding captain of the three-masted Adix, has entered his 1887 William Fife II- designed gaff cutter Ayrshire Lass. McGruer boats will


CLASSIC BOAT MAY 2012 41


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