The infamous Polina Star III that lost its keel and sank just a year after it was handed over to its owner and caused lawsuits between him and the management of the British shipyard, culminating in a short bankruptcy of the latter, gained a second wind. As well as the shipyard, that is now out of trouble and shows a good record.
So here's a little retrospective of how Polina Star III came back to life and formed part of the global charter fleet. And a word on how a fan of the yachting brand bounced the legendary British sailboat builder back.
A surprise crash
So, in July 2015, the 25m Polina Star III, launched a year earlier, lost its keel and sank in the Mediterranean Sea near Alicante, Spain. 5 crew members were on board: two of professional crew and three of yachting enthusiasts. Behind was a long journey across the Atlantic Ocean that started in the Caribbean archipelago of Antigua and Barbuda. The owner planned to cruise around the world.
Weather was excellent: sunny day, wave about 1.3 meters, wind 18 knots. The Polina Star III team put in a jib and riffled the mainsail.
AT ABOUT TWO IN THE AFTERNOON, THE HULL STARTED TO PRODUCE A STRANGE LOUD SOUND ACCOMPANIED BY A VIBRATION. WHEN THE CREW CHECKED THE ENGINE ROOM, THEY FOUND IT FLOODED.
After turning on the emergency pump, the crew immediately sent a distress call and began preparing the lifeboats. Just 5 minutes later, the keel of the sailboat detached from the hull and the vessel turned over.
Fortunately, none of the crew members were injured. As they got in the lifeboats, they filmed their sailboat drifting, pointing their rudder feathers into the sky and demonstrating the big hole in the hull. Later, it will come out that the area of the torn trim was about 20 square meters.
The next morning, the Polina Star III was still drifting. In a day, she travelled 15 miles from the capsizing site. One steering wheel was missing by then, and the other — was partially broken. A day after the capsizing, the sailboat went down to the bottom, 4 miles off the coast at a depth of 40 meters. It remained there until October.
Reasons and consequences
According to the captain of Polina Star III, there were problems with the keel even before the wreck. In July 2014, just a couple of months after the acceptance of the new yacht at the shipyard, she was even undergoing a warranty repair in England, during which it was discovered that the ballast part of the keel does not fit tightly to the plastic fin on the hull shell due to the loose keel bolts.
In December 2014, the problem arose again. This time in Antigua. However, shipyard's representatives simply swept it away. It was no longer possible to move the yacht to Europe and show it again to the surveyor.
After lifting the boat, no evidence of collision with any underwater object could be found. Neither on the keel nor on the hull.
A long investigation showed that mistakes were made during the lamination of the boat, i.e. during its construction, and caused the wreck.
Although the breakdown of Polina Star III was a singular incident, it severely damaged the previously impeccable 42-year reputation of the British shipyard. In the winter of 2018, the company declared itself bankrupt.
Two Phoenixes
One of the shipyard's admirers was the founder and creative director of Evolution Gaming, Richard Hadida. Upset with the situation, he bought out the company and all its subsidiaries and relaunched the brand of Oyster Yachts.
Legally, under the new ownership, the brand was not responsible for the crash of Polina Star III.
bOTH THE YACHT AND THE YACHTING BRAND WENT THEIR SEPARATE WAYS, AND BOTH GOT THE SECOND CHANCE..
After the wreckage was lifted from the water, what the sailboat had become was stored in the county of Essex in the south-east of England at the family shipyard Boats.co.uk. When its builder went bankrupt, Polina Star III, covered in mud and covered in sea ducks, became the property of the company.
Even though boats.co.uk usually dealt with motor yachts, the owners decided to reconstruct the sailing boat. After the initial physical cleaning, they started stripping and went down to the bottom layers of GRP, bringing it to the state it was in in the early stages of construction. They restored the original hull shape.
The new keel fin has been slightly modified to make it a little wider and thicker, but the keel itself remained the same.
Finally, the hull could be laminated again.
When the works on the hull were finished, it was time for the interiors. The original darkish teak was replaced by American white oak. Some deck equipment, including winches and metal structures, survived the crash..
Formula Spars made a new 30-metre mast, but the geek was left untouched. Bushprit was restored from Polina Star III photos.
The original GRP left handwheel also took its place. A pair for it was ordered in France.
The home «flag of» Red ensign was raised again at the stern.
In the end, Polina Star III (now named Champagne Hippy) met the highest standards of the British Maritime and Coast Guard Agency (MCA). And became available for charter.
THE ENTIRE RENOVATION TOOK AROUND 13 MONTHS AND WAS THE MOST EXTENSIVE PROJECT THE BOATS.CO.UK EVER UNDERTOOK.
But before that, the boat owners got themselves a little challenge. During the refit, they found a sticker on board from the ARC 2014 transatlantic regatta and decided that although they had never raced before, they should take part in the Polina Star III race in 2019. And they did it: the boat went to the start of the ARC 2019. Although small repairs were made on the way, Champagne Hippy successfully crossed the finish line.
«A lot of people there said it was impossible to do that, which was the main motivation for me. I knew it was possible, even though it took a whole year of my life. I didn't have a single day off and I worked every day from 6am to late at night. I felt this boat deserved a second chance. I was so sorry to see her like this. I couldn't bring myself to cut it, which many people wanted to do. A lot of people wanted the boat to be destroyed, but we started fixing it. Anything is possible if you surround yourself with the right people. We had the right people and we brought this boat back to life. We are very proud of what we did,"»says Nick Barke, one of four brothers who own Boats.co.uk.
Second life
Now the Bark family is giving up Champagne Hippy for charter in the Caribbean and Spain. With no overnight stay, up to 16 guests gather on board. There are 8-9 guests on board and 4 air-conditioned guest cabins with showers. One more bedroom is for the crew.
For shore trips, the aft garage stores the Williams Sportjet 345 tender.
And you can enjoy the sea by using Seabob or paddling.
The Champagne Hippy charter price starts at £30000 per week (excluding VAT).
