Classic Sailing Yacht ELENA

Elena is a masterpiece of old-world elegance and style. A magnificent yacht built for winning. Beautifully crafted with masts of Oregon pine and powerful sails. Elena is 55 meters of majestic luxury. In 2009, Elena's first ever charter guest had one desire. To race this incredible yacht. Without hesitation, the world-class crew set about delivering the dream. With three days notice, I collected up 36 race crew from all corners. Everything fell into place very easily, because the crew that we can bring in, we have some of the very best in the world. At the last minute, the boat was entered into the classic yacht regatta. It was to be an exceptionally thrilling race. The crew were also keen to race because an old rival was taking part. The impressive and fearsome Eleonora. Elena's sister ship, a rebuild launched in 2000. This was also a classic schooner and she was very fast. Eleonora, the ship that we were there to race against and built to beat. Racing between Elena and Eleonora is not new. Both schooners are rebuilds steeped in history. Their rivalry is over a century old. In the 1900s, Eleonora was called westward. She was the reigning champion. But one particular yachtsman refused to be beaten. He was wealthy American tycoon, Morton F. Plant. Morton F. Plant tried to buy Westford from Alexander Cochran. He offered him $50,000. The boat cost $118,000 to build. Cochran said he sent back to Plant a telegram saying that was ridiculous. That's what he told him. Having been refused by Cochran, Plant went one better. In 1910, he placed an order with the Harrisoft Manufacturing Company. His design brief was simple. There are a number of reports and quotes of the exact letter that Morton F. Plant sent to Harrisoft, which basically had a few profanity words in it and said that he wanted a boat that would win. Obviously, there was an understanding between Harrisoft and Plant that it would be a boat to beat Westford. The classic race regatta was the first time in over 100 years that the two yachts had met. As the race started, we were at the back of the pack, which was quite expected, you know, keeping everything clear, let the big, more experienced boats go through. It started out as a perfect day for sailing, with blue skies and a nice breeze, and then it picked up. We were hoisting more and more sail, getting more and more confident with ourselves and the boat. Elena's charter guest was thrilled. Every few minutes was a new and exciting experience. When we were racing, the guest was primarily sticking next to Steve and the tactician, and they were learning all about the tactics and navigation. Although this was Elena's first regatta, she was nevertheless exceeding everyone's hopes. We were very astonished by its acceleration. We were going past some of these boats that had been tried and tested and won numerous regattas. Coming up to the first mark, Elena was chasing Eleonora. Her rival was close. By the time we got to the first mark, we realised we were two sails short. Eleonora had her full canvas up. But anyway, we got to the mark practically at the same time. It was a wonderful sensation. By the way, we weren't even thinking about the other boats. We were just really sailing against Eleonora. That's the only thing. The objective was to beat that boat. With the boat doing well, no one could have foreseen what was to happen next. All of a sudden, we had a big problem. There was a man overboard. Rapidly, the captain had to change priority, from racing to rescue. It looked like Elena's chances of winning could slip away. In her day, Elena was the fastest and most technically advanced yacht. She was the supreme champion, beating Westwood for many years until World War II signalled the end of Elena. The owner gifted the boat to the Admiralty. And they took the keel off the boat, which was approximately 100 tonnes of lead. That would have been used to make bullets for the war. To re-ballast her, they used brick and stone and used the boat as a hospital ship. And that was the sad end of the original Elena. It would have been the last of Elena, but for one man with a passion. I had a vision to build myself another schooner. After some discussion with my race crew, they all convinced me that we should really build Elena, because Elena was built 100 years previously to beat Westwood. So the first call Steve makes is to Harrisoff's old college. I got a call from Steve McLaren. He was interested in a new project, and that project was Elena. I thought it was really a cool idea that another replica was so close to have competition of replicas of quite closely matched designs. I mean, that would be a wonderful thing to see. This was to be a new Elena. Better, faster and more luxurious than ever before. I spent a year playing with the glands and the equipment to use. Everything, the positioning of the main engine, the generators. To rebuild a classic yacht like this is to bring history to life. Elena is more than a visual history. She is living history. A chance to really experience the elegance and beauty of the 1900s. When you build a classic boat, a true classic boat, you have to use the materials used at the time. It's all exactly the same as it was like 100 years ago. Steve achieved his dream and launched Elena in time for the classic yacht regatta. The racing between the two boats was neck and neck as the boat and crew pushed forward. But as if the drama wasn't exciting enough, one of the crew went into the deep blue sea. So I steered the boat down towards him. This all happens in like seconds. But we managed to pick him up straight away because I think he, two strokes in and he was washed up against the side of the boat and there were 10 people there leaning over, grabbing him out of the water. This delay could scupper Elena's chances, but the client and the crew wanted to win at all costs. We stuck every sail we had in our arsenal up. We decided with the knowledge we had on board to hoist the jackyard, which is a feat in itself doing when the boat's stationary, but while the boat's moving was unheard of. We're accelerating more and more up until probably the final mark where we managed to catch up and overtake Eleonora. And as we were overtaking the sheer drawing and the whoops from the sailors was definitely a special moment for us all. With great skill, Elena's crew had powered the graceful yacht with amazing speed through the finishing line. We pulled into the harbour, shooting cannons at fighting centre. Champagne was brought on deck, everybody was celebrating. The charter guest was the first person to open the bottle of champagne and indeed spray it over the crew. Our charter guest absolutely loved it. She very much enjoys all the activity that goes on with the racing and how it's poetry in motion. As a charter guest, you buy into something very special and hopefully at the end of the day, they become as passionate about it as we do. You can charter most sailing vessels and have a very good time, but today not for something special. Absolutely wonderful. She's like a born winner. It doesn't get any better.