Show/hide the Admiralty Sail Training Craft History

In 1958 the Admiralty gave Morgan Giles Ltd an order for five Sail training craft.  These were to replace the 'Windfall' Yachts used for cadets sail training at Dartmouth Royal Naval College.  It is understood that FC Morgan-Giles was given a free hand to design his 'perfect yacht', this turned out to be one of the classic designs of the late 1950's.  Two further yachts were built to the same specification for the Royal Naval Engineering College, Manadon.  It has been reported that the Admiralty stated that this was the only contract at that time that was delivered on time.
Each yacht was 13 Ton Thames Measurement, 43ft LOA and built to 100A1 Lloyds classification.  They were named Pegasus, Wyvern, Gryphis, Martlet and Leopard, the Manadon yachts were named Galahad and Gawaine.  Although it is believed that Gawaine was built by Taylors of Shoreham with some minor modifications.  They are now known as the Morgan Giles 43.  Each vessel was built with a carvel teak hull on English oak timbers, copper fastened (clenched).  They had wooden floors, a 4 ton lead keel with bronze keel bolts, the deck was teak and they had tiller steering.  A further yacht to the same design was built by the Royal Australian Navy in 1962 called Franklin.

The RN yachts Pegasus, Wyvern, Gryphis, Martlet, Leopard and Galahad were after about a year of being accepted by the RN returned to Morgan GIles to have auxiliary engines fitted in them for manoeuvrability in slack winds.  Melvyn Lloyd assisted one of the coppersmiths fit the exhaust pipes in each yacht. The pipes were trailed through the aft peak where the maximum headroom was no greater than three feet and that was at the forward end the compartment. We applied for confined space money which was not a lot and it was paid for the first week and then denied to us because the management read through the ship construction rules and read this: "That confined space monies are only given to personnel who were working beneath the level of the engine bearers"

In the 1960's there were concerns about the large sail area so this was reduced by cutting the mast height by 11ft and the booms by about 3ft.
The yachts were eventually sold in 1983, most of these wonderful boats are still sailing today and three are owned by Classic Sail, these are Leopard, Gryphis and Pegasus. The Galahad is believed to be in private ownership in Italy, Martlet is also in private ownership.  It is reported that Wyvern sank in the Red Sea.

This video of the Sail Training Yachts built by Morgan Giles was shot by Alec Collyer. Alec's Father, Kenneth Collyer was the chief designer for Francis Morgan Giles at the boatyard in Teignmouth.
The yachts here are two of the five built for the Britannia Royal Naval College in 1958. Those shown in the video are 'Leopard' and 'Gryphis'. The occasion was an invitation by the owners to the Morgan Giles family and others related to the company to join them for a sail in these classic boats.
It is a testament to Morgan Giles design and workmanship that these boats are still in such remarkable condition and it is hoped that they remain so for many years to come.