Name Volante

VOLANTE is believed to be the only remaining wooden boat built in the Wivenhoe upstream shipyard by John Harvey & Co and was launched two years before a disastrous fire which led to the eventual bankruptcy of the company. She is built to a similar design as her famous predecessor THE VOLANTE which sailed against THE AMERICAN in the original America’s Cup. In 1886, she was owned by W.F. Cook of St Paul’s Churchyard, London, but by 1887-88 she was recorded in Lloyd’s Register under the ownership of Ebenezer Gould of Aldermanbury, London. She was sold again in 1891 to Annie M. Sanders and was based at this time in Colchester. By 1897, VOLANTE had been bought by Henry Blake of The Conservative Club, Great Yarmouth, who sold her in 1902 to George Hall of Woolwich, Kent. In 1907, she was purchased by E. Southgate of Brightlingsea and passed on to Charles Lamb in 1908. Roland H. Nelson took her on in 1913 and kept her until after World War One. In 1924, VOLANTE is registered in the ownership of Albert E. Oakley with a new engine, by White’s of Norwich. By 1926, she had been bought by E. W. Robey and the engine was replaced again with an Ailsa Craig Motor Co. Ltd of Chiswick. Following this, VOLANTE was owned by a doctor in Pin Mill and then was purchased by Mr Thurston. Circa 1954, she was in the ownership of T. E. Cook of Ipswich, who is reported to have sold her for £225. Peter Tunstall then kept her at the Orwell Yacht Club until his death in 2003. VOLANTE represents a type of yacht built for racing in the nineteenth century and owned by wealthy professionals. Her construction is believed to be an experimental design using a double planked hull.