History
Alfred Mylne & Co design no. 391
Percy Mitchell yard no. 91
When commissioning owner, Percy M Holman - fourth generation leader of his family's successful Cornish mining equipment business, future president of the Rugby Football Union, and future Admiral of the Royal Cornwall Yacht Club - decided he needed a new fast cruising and ocean racing yacht, it would have been natural to turn to the designer of his present vessel, the Alfred Mylne-designed Clyde 20-Ton One Design TIGRIS. And it would have been just as natural to place the build contract with Percy Mitchell of Portmellon, not least because it was relatively easy to follow the build progress there. In the winter of 1937-38 it would have been no more testing a drive from his Camborne home than it is nowadays, and hundreds of miles closer than the next nearest high quality yacht builder.
However, MORVA was at the extreme size of Mitchell's yard's logistical capabilities: her launching was a major event, beautifully captured in our main image, and not without trauma. But despite being a wonderfully moderate displacement yacht for her size, she survived, no doubt because of the strength and quality of her construction in design and execution. The quality of materials and finish employed by Mitchell were astounding, and have stood the test of time ever more: pitch pine and teak with bronze diagonal strapping; the best.
Apart from MORVA's striking beauty, perusal of her original general arrangement here is revealing. Mylne designed a quite revolutionary layout, well ahead of its time by UK standards, superbly thought out for cruising, passagemaking and offshore racing. Believe it or not, a dedicated chart table wasn't common then in the UK, and well placed wet weather gear stowage not the norm either. Her owner's stateroom could be truly private, and the professional crew accommodation offered unusual space and comfort, with the possibility of sharing a toilet with guests, and with refrigeration in the galley - suggesting that summer cruises might have extended far south, well into and beyond the Bay of Biscay - perhaps after the finish of some of the races listed below. Her power came from Ratsey & Lapthorn sails and a American Gray Sea Scout 20 hp petrol auxiliary.
Holman would keep MORVA for almost the rest of his life into the 1960s, eventually sharing her with Nicholas Holman. Before and after the Second World War she took part in most of the major Royal Ocean Racing Club offshore races, and in the 1939 Fastnet Race “Open Class” rubbed shoulders with a mouth watering collection of famous names including: NORDWIND (Henry Guber, the German Kreigsmarine-owned eventual record-breaking winner); LATIFA (Fife); BENBOW (Clark/C&N); BLOODHOUND (CE Nicholson/C&N); ZEEAREND (S&S/de Vries Lentsch); HAMBURG (Henry Rasmussen/A&R); OLIVIER VAN NOORT (de Vries Lentsch Jr) ; ERIVALE (Clark); EVENLODE (Fife); ILEX (Nicholson); MARY BOWER (Clark); MAID OF MALHAM (Giles); ROLAND VON BREMEN (Gruber); STIARNA (Nicholson).
Some of MORVA's racing achievements during these early days were:
1939 13th in the Fastnet Race
19?? 4th Cowes to Dinard race
1947 Winner Solent to Falmouth race
1950 Winner Falmouth to Belle Ile race
1953 4th Plymouth to LaRochelle race
1953 16th in Class II, the Fastnet race
1954 Winner Brixham to Belle Ile race
MORVA's first change of ownership was in 1963 when Holman sold her to fellow Royal Yacht Squadron member and career soldier, Lt Col Lionel Heathcote Landon, and she moved to a new base at Yarmouth, Isle of Wight. During Landon's ten years at the helm it's probable that she took part in sail training races as her sail number changed from the RORC's '254' to 'TS K8'. For sure Landon cruised extensively with her, and "MORVA" trophies he presented are still coveted at two of his yacht clubs, the Royal Solent at Yarmouth, and Royal Lymington.
In 1973 W.B. Podevin of Wanstead, London, became MORVA's third owner and it is possible that through the mid 1970s her home port was Burnham-on-Crouch.
By 1978 she had moved to Gibraltar flag, and is recorded in the Caribbean during the late 1970s, purchased there by well-known Antigua-based yachtsman Hans Lammers - the story goes, over the counter of English Harbour's Red Snapper bar, now better known as Abracadabra.
In a brief flirtation with MORVA, Lammers achieved class wins at Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta before swapping her c1979 for the 1910 Herreshoff schooner QUEEN MAB. Lammers returned the steel schooner's name to the original VAGRANT and as such she was eventually bought and restored by Peter de Savary to become mother ship for the Americas Cup Victory 83 Challenge.
After that the MORVA trail runs a bit cold, but the wonderful reality is that she survives and has great potential for revival.
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1903
Mylne
gaff cutter
1909
Mylne
Gaff Sloop
1909
Mylne
Bermudan Sloop
1911
Mylne
Classic Island Class Yawl
