Partridge, Victorian gaff cutter
Length LOA : 21 meters
Beam : 3.28 meters
Draft : 2.8 meters
Year of build : 1885
Designed by : J. Beavor-Webb
Built by : Camper & Nicholson (UK)
The Victorian gaff cutter Partridge was cruised and raced along the south coast of England for the first 30 years of her life. She was built to Lloyds classification 100 A1 and in the 1923 Lloyds Register it says that she was sold to a Belgian gentleman and left the country. She must have returned to the east coast of England some time just before or after the Second World War because in the 1950’s to the 1980’s she was lived on as a house boat with no lead keel (which had been removed for its lead during the war).
Alex Laird found her on the River Blackwater in 1979 and set about restoring her. She was finally re-launched in 1998 and after a successful racing season in the Solent she was shipped down to the Mediterranean. She won her class in the Conde de Barcelona in 1999 and in the same year was the overall winner at Monaco Classic Week and Les Voiles de Saint Tropez (formerly La Nioulargue) and The Vele d'Epoca Regatta at Imperia and Monaco Classic Week. She came second in the Cannes Regates Royales that same year.
Partridge has also competed on many occasions at Les Voiles du Vieux Port at Marseille (best placing - 2nd), Les Regates Royales (Cannes) (2nd), Les Voiles d'Antibes (2nd), Argentario Sailing Week (3rd), Porto Cervo Veteran Boat Rally (2nd), Porquerolles Classiques (2nd) and Les Regates Imperiales, Ajaccio, Corsica (2nd). In 2001 Alex captained Partridge when she was shipped back to Cowes for the America's Cup Jubilee Regatta where she finished third in Class.
She is now looked after by Classic Works and berthed in La Ciotat when not racing.
Apart from annual maintenance of varnishing, anti-fouling and painting, Classic Works have carried out a refit of the spars and rigging of Partridge in the winter of 2004 / 2005. This included extensive splining of the shakes that had appeared in Partridge’s solid spars since they had been down in the dry Mediterranean climate.
