Above: during the early 1880s much of the quayside gossip in Greenock was fuelled by tales – most true – of the English claiming Vanduara and her successes for their own. However, Clark’s decision to give his designer free reign to his talents had been inspired. Left: the Woolwich Infant… a prototype 35-ton gun, with a barrel over 16ft in length all moved around on a tracked carriage, was a familiar sight to those travelling up and down the Thames by boat past the Woolwich Arsenal. The ‘Infant’ was in a constant state of development… to the permanent dismay of the residents of the area who would be deafened whenever an ‘experiment’ took place. Below left: the Prince of Wales and his family onboard the Royal Yacht Osborne II anchored in the Solent during Cowes Week 1880. Below: Princes Albert Victor and George raced regularly onboard Formosa – their thoughts on Vanduara and her crew are unknown…
miles ahead, ‘chiefly through making better water in the nasty choppy sea’. The Globe proclaimed, whatever the
reason, be it steel construction or the lines of her design, ‘England now possesses a yacht second to none of her size in the world.’ The misnomer did not go unno- ticed north of the border…
A change of attitude The Watson boat topped the first-class cutter results table with over £1,000 of prizemoney. Designer and captain in part- nership had produced a runaway success. Glaswegians were proud of both men. Vanduara ‘became the talk of the West End of London, and on returning to her native Clyde, draped in half-rainbow fashion with a splendid array of 17 first and two second-place flags, ‘the enthusi- asm which her doings evoked amounted to a wild sort of idolatry’. Penitent southern journalists now
spewed out poetry in her praise. She was awarded all sorts of names such as ‘The Steel-Sided Waterwitch’, ‘The Sea Darling’, ‘The Matchless’ and the ‘Scotch Wonder’. Her fame lasted. It was said in 1887
that ‘no yacht has created such a sensation in the years before or since’. Vanduarawas even discussed in New York as a possible, nay probable, challenger for the America’s Cup the following year. In some ways the most important result
was the change in attitude to Scottish crews in general. Initial sneering in the southern press had turned to genuine admiration. Instead of ‘raw-boned highlandmen’
they, their skipper and the designer of their revolutionary racer were now considered the best in the business. Their season was thought to be among the most brilliant in all yachting annals. According to Watson’s biographer, Martin Black, Royal Formosa, last year’s champion, had been beaten 17 times in succession. Vanduara sailed off to cruise around the
beautiful Northern Highlands, skipper Mackie was feted and celebrated as a local as well as a national hero, and Watson’s business went from strength to strength. In 1887 his magnificent Thistle did indeed cross the Atlantic to challenge for the America’s Cup, and in 1893 a certain gaff- rigged cutter named Britannia was com- missioned by the Prince of Wales himself.
Gossip at Greenock In July 1880 the Greenock Herald published its usual list of ‘Quay Points’ – the latest gossip picked up around the quays and boatyards. Vanduara figured large. The locals noted: ‘… that the ENGLISHpapers now admit the merits of the Vanduara … that they say, however, that she is an ENGLISHyacht … that one says that ENGLAND evidently now possesses a yacht second to none for her size in the world and … that Vanduara promises to bring about a revolution in ENGLISHyacht building … that this is all very flattering, only it isn’t true. … That with the exception of her canvas she is SCOTCH all over … that she was built in SCOTLAND … that she is owned by a SCOTSMAN … that her skipper is a SCOTSMAN – the real Mack-kie … that her crew are all real Sawneys [lowland SCOTSMEN] … that she may truly be proclaimed the Champion of the World … that her skipper’s fortune is made … that Rob Roy never struck more terror among the Saxons … and that the ENGLISH yachtsman onboard the Formosa who dubbed the crew “raw SCOTCHMEN” has been missing for three weeks…’
SEAHORSE 47
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