THE VIOLA LOVERS

It almost goes without saying (especially to readers of this magazine) that it isn’t just important that a boat should sail well, she should look good, too – and, many would argue, so should the crew. While it is common practice for race crews to wear matching liveried clothing so they are recognisable as a team, both afloat and ashore, during the 2019 season Viola’s crew – or the ‘Viola Lovers’, as they like to call themselves – took this one stage further. They all grew sideboards (or sideburns, or mutton chops) in a style that hasn’t really been fashionable for a long time.

was originally launched on 18 June 1908, having been designed and built – alongside the 15-Metre – by William Fife III. Her garboards and adjacent planks were in elm, with the remaining underwater planking in pitch pine and topsides in Honduras mahogany, on alternate sawn-oak frames and steamed black locust timbers. Her first owner was Thomas M Hunter – a member of the Royal Clyde, the Royal Gourock and the Royal Northern Yacht Clubs – for whom Fife had previously produced, in 1901, the slightly larger , which was now passed on to other members of the Hunter family. Both boats were sold in 1920, to Lord Glentanar, whose cousin Sir Thomas Glen-Coats had designed and helmed the 12-Metre , which had won the gold medal at the 1908 Olympic Games. back to Thomas M Hunter. All this time she was based on the Clyde until, that is, Hunter sold her in 1934 to AR Lapthorn who lived in Lee-on-Solent. Lapthorn converted her to a bermudan cutter and she then spent about 35 years with six different owners on the south coast of England: first in the Solent, then in Torbay and then back in the Solent at Swanwick on the Hamble.