Once thought impossible due to the entire seven boat fleet rotting in a County Wicklow farmyard, the first revived Dublin Bay 21 'Naneen' was revealed yesterday at Kilrush Boatyard in County Clare.
The Hal Sisk led project has been working on the legendary Dublin Bay 21 class, the famous Mylne design of 1902-03, since late 2016.
The 21 was rebuilt by boatbuilder Steve Morris of Kilrush with assistance in later stages from Dan Mill.
DB21 'Naneen' with the Dublin Bay Sailing Club burgee on her bow is prepared for launch
As Afloat reported previously, far from bringing the original and almost-mythical gaff cutter rig with jackyard topsail back to life above a traditionally-constructed hull, Sisk is content to have an attractive gunter-rigged sloop – “American gaff” some would call it – above a new laminated cold-moulded hull which was built inverted and fitted on the original ballast keels, thereby maintaining the boat’s continuity of existence, the presence of the true spirit of the ship.
The first DB 21 to get this treatment is Naneen, originally built in 1905 by Clancy of Dun Laoghaire for T. Cosby Burrowes, a serial boat owner from Cavan.
It’s a fascinating and complex project to which W M Nixon will be returning to in his blog this Saturday.
