In the spring of 2023, a buoyant crowd gathered on the east coast of Canada’s Vancouver Island for the relaunch of a small but very significant boat. The 30ft (9.1m) sloop Dorothy, built in 1897, was about to return to the sea after years of neglect and a prolonged rebuild. Like most launchings, the vessel was dressed in flags and flowers, with a bottle of champagne readied to burst across the bow. But this ceremony was far ordinary.
Dorothy is thought to be the oldest vessel on the west coast of Canada; possibly the oldest one in the country still sailing. She has endured 126 years and nearly a dozen owners, yet her story is as clear as calm water, thanks to the man who commissioned her.
W H Langley was a young barrister in Victoria, Canada, who spent his leisure time in the 1890s racing and cruising the waters around Vancouver Island aboard his 18ft (5.5m) sloop Viola. Competition at the newly formed Victoria Yacht Club prompted his desire for a faster vessel, and a search began.
Within the pages of the 1895 edition of Dixon Kemp’s , Langley found plans for a 30ft (9.1m) boat that, is 129 years old and still turning heads, a testament to Hope’s talent and skill.
