Name Larry

Designed by CE Nicholson and built by Ashton and Kilner in 1907, LARRY was launched at Poole as a fast cruiser with some racing potential.

From 1935 to 1938, she was raced in the English Channel and North Sea by a founder member of the Royal Ocean Racing Club, taking firsts each year before finishing second in her final season. She continued racing after the Second World War, initially as flagship of the Royal Artillery Yacht Club, and was rigged as a Bermudan cutter in 1951/52.

In 1953, preparations began for long distance cruising. The first of three doghouses was added and her gaff rig was restored. An intended voyage to Australia was thwarted by electrolysis, and her lead keel was sold. She underwent an initial restoration at a yard in Burnham-on-Sea, where an iron keel was fitted and she was sailed as a family boat. A further restoration, completed between 1963 and 1969 at Burnham-on-Crouch, brought her to the high level of comfort she retains today, after which she was relocated to the Mediterranean.

She changed hands several times over the following decades. From 1975, one owner lived aboard her until 1991, based variously in Antibes, Ibiza, Gibraltar, the Caribbean, Guernsey and Portugal, selling her in 1984 and repurchasing her two years later after a period of neglect in the Mediterranean.

From 1991, she was based initially in Hythe and then Dover. In 2000, she raced direct from Southampton to New York, a crossing of 53 days made without use of the engine. She went on to Maine and Nova Scotia, returning to the UK in 2003 via Newfoundland, Labrador and Greenland. Three years based in Inverness followed, sailing Orkney and Shetland, before she arrived at Limehouse Basin in 2007 for her 100th birthday celebrations.

She overwintered at Harstad, near Tromsø in the Norwegian Arctic, in 2010, followed by two years based in Shetland, and overwintered in Vilagarcia, Western Spain, in 2014/15.

She is a solid, comfortable boat that has been cruised extensively across various parts of the globe by successive owners. She has 9 berths, including 2 doubles, within a comfortable interior. Her dog house provides shelter from the elements at sea, and her rig remains easily handled by a small experienced crew.