Marigold

Greg Powesland discovered Marigold in Wooton Creek, lonely and deserted. Lord Montague of Beaulieu offered a temporary six-month berth at Bucklers Hard. Once the tide swept seams were caulked with rags Marigold floated and, with the help of Mike Stansfield and his tug Fred, she was towed across the Solent and sunk into the mud of the Beaulieu River.

Next Greg purchased a derelict boathouse in Cornwall, a neighbour having offered the use of a piece of his land nearby for the restoration project. Further progress was limited by lack of funds but an exhibition at the Sail '82 Exhibition in Southampton hoped to attract sponsorship for the project. This proved fruitless but Robbie Henderson of Lambert Haulage did offer to transport the hull to Cornwall.

By 1982 Marigold had been emptied of mud and extraneous gear, surveyed and temporarily roofed over until a way could be found to pursue the restoration.

As a base for the project Greg decided to restore the boathouse, meanwhile collecting history and gear for Marigold and part-time teaching for a living at Plymouth Art School. Two years turned into seven during which all attempts to raise sponsorship failed.

Although Greg could no longer continue to fund a major boat restoration he had managed to unearth a large body of Marigold's history. In 1989 Alex Laird (who had coincidentally been restoring a similar Victorian yacht named Partridge) had an entirely new idea: a major international auction devoted exclusively to classic yachts. He suggested putting Marigold up as one of the yachts for sale.

Mr Glen Allan, a Bermuda-based yachtsman, had been on a flight to London from his home when he happened to read a Telegraph article about the sale. He called Greg; "Would you be able to restore Marigold to her original specification if I purchased her?" he asked.

Marigold sold for five times her estimate to Mr Allan. The brief was to restore Marigold as faithfully as possible to her original specification as a Victorian yacht. Working plans were produced by Chris Temple and the hull reconstruction was undertaken by Canal & Marine Services and completed, bar the counter, to Lloyd's A1 by 1992

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• Marigold
• 1892
• wooden
• yacht
• boat
• Glen
• Allan
• Greg
• Powesland
• John
• Woolley
• David
• Niven