The restoration of the 127-year-old large classic yacht “Cariad”
Marine surveyors in a project management role Phase 1 (2006-2008) The Magic Years
In 1895 Lord Dunraven commissioned Cariad to be built by Summers & Payne of Southampton. Square-rigged ships were still running cargos of nitrates, phosphates and coal under sail around the world. It was the zenith of the British Empire. Two centuries of victory at war had nurtured the Rule Britannia spirit. Cariad was built to sail the world. We took over after she had been 110 years at sea.
What sets this restoration apart from other world classic yacht projects is that it was done in a fish-boat shipyard in Thailand singularly lacking in infrastructure. Our Thai artisans echoed our tagline, “Thailand can!” Hollow rhetoric until we could prove that we could do it.
By Des Kearns MIIMS
Cariad under full sail - Beken & Cowes photo 1896 86 | The Report • June 2023 • Issue 104