An American ketch
Built in San Diego in 1930, Vileehi is a cruise yacht that was intended for businessman Hiram T. Horton. Ketch of 27m in wood, she was designed and built by Edson B. Schock, an American architect specializing in sailing yachts from the turn of the century. She is the first yacht from San Diego to sail around the world.
Requisitioned by the US Navy at the beginning of the Second World War, it was used for training purposes for seagoing officers. Answering to the sweet name of IX-62, it escapes the combat, because of its weak strategic interest on the front.
Preserved from the damage of World War II, the US Navy sold it to the actor Dana Andrews in 1946. It then changed owners several times, sailing between England and Italy. In recent years it has been sailing on short cruises in the Mediterranean.
Abandoned by its owner
Moored in Port Saint Louis du Rhône, Vileehi no longer receives any visits from its Anglo-Saxon owner. The boat is left abandoned for two years, and will suffer the ravages of time. This type of yacht always makes a bit of water, and the lack of maintenance speeds up the process.
She was shipwrecked at the dock in 2018. At the request of the harbour master's office, Seaworks, a company specialising in underwater works, refloats the yacht for the first time. As the owner still had not heard from her, Vileehi was moored in the same place.
But a shell plating on the waterline blows, and the ketch will sink a second time. Seaworks was once again commissioned to refloat the vessel, but this time the harbour master's office was determined to have the boat destroyed.
On learning of this decision, the manager of the Seaworks company, Laurent Tomasi, could not bring himself to let this ketch disappear. Passionate about sailing and maritime heritage in general, he decides to embark on a great adventure. After a long and tedious administrative process, Laurent manages to recover the boat and becomes its new owner.
A delicate operation
Refloating a 27-metre ketch is not a trivial operation. A team of divers, assisted by a work barge, is called upon. After passing straps under the keel of the ketch, imposing balloons are inflated with air and allow the 54-tonne sailing boat to be gradually raised. Powerful motor pumps are started to empty the boat of the water and the mud that has accumulated in the bilges. The defective shell plating is summarily repaired. Victory! Vileehi floats again.
But the harbour space has to be freed up and transporting it is tricky. Vileehi can't move on her own. After a low-speed tow that lasted some fifteen hours, Vileehi was moored on the pontoon of the Seaworks company in Marseilles.
A proud appearance despite her ghost ship looks
His two underwater trips have left a mark on Vileehi. But despite this, the boat floats in her lines and catches the eye. A first cleaning allowed to put the deck back in order, and to rid it of the shell colonies that had taken possession of the ketch.
The hull and structure are to be rebuilt. All the fittings have to be redone, as well as the electrical and hydraulic circuits. The motorization has to be changed. But the deck in good condition, as well as the numerous spars of the rigging. The building site is important, but not infeasible.
The boat is now safe and Laurent is looking for funding to refurbish Vileehi: " We would like to use it as a working basis for an educational project, as a training tool for seafaring professions. We are in advanced discussions with the training centres of the city of Marseille, and also with the PAMM, the Museum of Maritime Heritage in the Mediterranean. "
Let us hope that the project will be successful and that Vileehi will continue to sail in Marseille waters.
S/Y Vileehi Data Sheet
- Job-site: San Diego Marine Construction Company
- Launched: 1930
- Displacement: 54 tons
- Length: 80 ft (24 m)
- Width: 19 ft 3 in (5.87 m)
- Draft: 11 ft 5 in (3.48 m)
