Claude is 72 years old. In active life he was a physics and computer science teacher in vocational education. Alongside his colleagues, he learned a lot in the different trades, especially in construction. On the sea side, this young man has been sailing since the age of 18. At the beginning, this Charente native was working at the Fouras club where he rubbed shoulders with Jean Berret who was developing his first Quarter "Bemol". This was before he became the renowned naval architect. Practicing regatta sailing, Claude took part many times in the week of La Rochelle as a crew member, but as he likes to say: "Now, I'm more interested in cooking! There's no longer any need for a navigator because of the electronics..."
My very own Porsche
This amateur regatta sailor had decided to stop owning a sailboat, to stop cruising. Until the day his course crossed that of this Manzanita. "It was during the delivery of a friend's sailboat that I saw this sailboat for sale in Spain, in a port on the Catalan coast. It was a Quarter Toner designed by Ron Holland. I have always liked these IOR shapes which are very elaborate and yet so aesthetic. Bringing this kind of boat back to life made me want to. I think it's better to restore this kind of boat than to scrap it. Let's hope that one day there will be a market for these old hulls, just like there is for old cars. Even if the evolution of architecture and comfort might make people fear a lack of interest in old hulls... For me, this Manzanita is a bit like my Porsche 356!"
3 years on site
From her home port in Spain, as soon as the sale was signed, the yacht was repatriated by road to La Rochelle. "That summer, I put her back in the water and used her for a month without making the slightest modification. I sailed in the Pertuis around the Ile de Ré. The Manzanita was in its juice. That allowed me to check the general condition of the hull, sails, fittings and engine". At the end of the summer, the yacht was taken out of the water in Port des Barques opposite the island of Oléron for a major refit. This one will last 3 years..
A 1/4 Tonner Ron Holland
Dating back to 1976, this Quarter Tonner was built in series in polyester by a Spanish shipyard. It is based on the hull of a Quarter prototype that raced in 1975. About 50 units were produced at that time and the series is quite popular in Spain. This model was named Manzanita (the little apple), because the first model had an apple drawn on its transom. The characteristic rounded shape of the latter gave the impression of an apple in 3D.
Shiny hull and deck
On Sobrevent ("Au vent" in Catalan), the hull and the deck have a sad aspect. You can see the fiberglass in places. Claude decides to sand it entirely before calling in a professional to apply a new gelcoat. This one is sprayed with a spray gun, then sanded and polished to get the mirror aspect of the mould.
For the bridge, it's Claude's job. He starts by dismantling all the fittings. He counted more than 100 bolts between the rails, winches and various blockers. He decides to redo the deck in 2 colours with the extra work required for the masking between the layers. The dark grey parts receive anti-slip while the light parts are smooth. For this he uses International bicomponent paint to which he adds glass powder for the anti-skid.
On the fittings side, it replaces all the metal with Dyneema. Thus the runners or backstay are made of textile. As well as the halyards which were still mixed: steel and textile. On the other hand, to hold this 7/8th mast, Claude did not change the rigging into a rod: "We'll see", he says..
The refurbished single-cylinder
On the engine side, the single-cylinder Solé Diesel, which was running as well as it could, was finally unloaded. Claude will discover a totally rusty oil cake following a leak in the gland and above all a punctured cylinder. He will change the piston and the connecting rod. Fortunately, there are still spare parts for this type of engine and he can rebuild it himself, quietly installed in his garage. In the end, the engine completely rusted and repainted looks like new.
A timeless line
For the decoration, Claude decides to paint a fern on the planking (the same as the All Black of New Zealand), a nod to Ron Holland's country of origin. He keeps the original name of the boat.
In August 2019, he can finally get the boat back in the water. With the joy of tacking again while waiting for the delivery of the little pleasure he has just given himself: a mainsail from the Incidence sailmaker. Even if there are still a few details to be fine-tuned on the inside, his new toy really looks good. "It's not rare to be greeted when you arrive in Saint-Martin-de-Ré and told that I have a beautiful sailboat," he adds a little proudly.
How much does it cost?
And when Claude asks how much the one cost him, he'd rather not know. "I bought the boat as is for 5,000 euros. But I haven't counted how much the work cost me. Probably around 15,000 euros. In any case much more than the resale value of this model today. But that's not important. I'm happy to sail on a boat that I think is beautiful, and that's priceless."
