ROYAL YACHTS
amount of time that he could actually spend onboard her. Rather than allow Bloodhound to spend most of the year tied up in Portsmouth, Prince Philip decided that she should be lent to yacht clubs to allow their members to sample offshore yacht racing. The Admiralty agreed to continue with the practice of appointing a naval officer as the sailing master, this time with a two-man core crew. Once the sailing master had received the royal family’s requirements for the coming season, he was able to plan the rest of her programme. The scheme soon caught on and became very popular. In her first full season of royal ownership, Bloodhound was used by the members of 32 different yacht clubs to sail 6,736 nautical miles and spend 109 of her 162 days in commission at sea.
Above:
Bloodhound in 1965
boat to sail that could take up to eight people in comfort with the ability to reach speeds of up to 16 knots. Two sling plates enabled her to be swiftly hoisted onboard Britannia, while her drop keel and relatively short spars minimised the amount of stowage space required. The search for Bluebottle’s replacement got underway as the 1961 season drew to a close. Prince Philip initially considered chartering a cruiser-racer for the 1962 season, but this idea was swiftly dropped in favour of buying a second-hand ocean racing yacht that would be big enough to take the Prince of Wales and Princess Anne on family cruises. A review of the market revealed that the 63ft (19.2m) yawl Bloodhound, which had been built by Camper & Nicholson in 1936, would be the most suitable option from a financial point of view. However, whilst Bloodhound’s sea-keeping qualities were not in doubt, she would require a major refit to modify the interior, replace the engine and alter the rig before Prince Philip’s burgee could be raised. The work was carried out by her original builders under the supervision of Captain John Illingworth, appointed as the naval architect for the refit, following Bloodhound’s purchase by the Queen and Prince Philip in January 1962. However, as with Bluebottle, Prince Philip’s various official commitments still restricted the
62 CLASSIC BOAT MAY 2012
BLOODHOUND ON £1 A DAY To make Bloodhound available to as many people as possible, there was a charge of just £1 per head per day, which contributed towards food and normal running costs, such as fuel, water and harbour dues. This sum was increased to £2 in later years, and the Queen and Prince Philip paid the balance of Bloodhound’s expenses. Even though the boat introduced large numbers of people to offshore yachting, the cost of operating her could no longer be justified in the tough financial climate of the late 1960s. Charges could have been increased to cover all her expenses, but it was deemed inappropriate for the royal family to enter the yacht charter business, thereby leaving no alternative but to sell Bloodhound. Her career as a royal-owned yacht came to a close on 13 October 1969. In just eight seasons of royal ownership, she had sailed 45,393 miles, most of them with members of the various yacht clubs who borrowed her, rather than her owners. Within a month, she had been sold to a consortium led by Louis Coureau. Afterwards, Prince Philip maintained the royal connection to the sport of yachting thanks to the generosity of Sir Owen Aisher, who kindly lent him a succession of yachts to race in Class 1 at Cowes Week, beginning with Y
eoman XVI in 1970. Meanwhile, Bloodhound became a familiar sight in
Poole Harbour following her purchase by Bernard Cook. His son Robert subsequently inherited her and competed in UK and Mediterranean regattas until Richard Carr became her owner in 2002. However, within 12 months she was bought by the yacht surveyor Tony McGrail who embarked on an extensive four-year restoration. In a surprising twist of fate, the Royal Yacht Britannia
Trust bought Bloodhound in January 2010 to ensure her long-term future. Before heading north to join the former Royal Yacht Britannia on public display in Leith, Bloodhound was repainted in her former royal livery by Berthon’s Lymington shipyard. Although she will spend the majority of the year on public display alongside the royal yacht, the Trust believes Bloodhound should continue to be seen in her natural environment and she will spend each July and August sailing around the West Coast of Scotland or the Solent.
BEKEN OF COWES
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