Bluebottle’s Winning Return

The acquisition, restoration and racing of the Royal Dragon Bluebottle is one of the most significant projects to be tackled by The Royal Yacht Britannia Trust. It occurred purely by chance as a direct result of the Trust’s purchase of Fingal, which brought its Chief Executive Bob Downie to Falmouth in July 2014 when he travelled to the port to finally take possession of Fingal after 5 years of negotiations. Bob had been expecting to see Bluebottle proudly on display in the National Maritime Museum Cornwall (NMMC) and was dismayed to discover her under a tarpaulin in a neighbouring car park while the Museum tried to raise enough money to restore her for static display.

On returning to Edinburgh, Bob Downie made a formal approach to the recently appointed Director of the NMMC, Richard Doughty, who was supportive of the Trust’s proposal to take on responsibility for the restoration and preservation of Bluebottle. However, one of NMMC’s trustees was adamant he could raise the funds for Bluebottle’s restoration in Falmouth, thereby forcing Richard Doughty to decline the Trust’s request. Bob remained in contact with Richard over the next three years until a review of the Museum’s collection and layout created an opportunity to reconsider Bluebottle’s future. This review concluded that Bluebottle would not form part of the Museum’s displays within the foreseeable future and that it would focus its modest funding on its core exhibits. The Museum decided to find suitable custodians for its surplus exhibits, including Bluebottle, which enabled Richard Doughty to accept Bob Downie’s offer subject to the approval of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, who still owned the Royal Dragon. Having reviewed the Trust’s plans for Bluebottle, the Palace gave its approval and transferred the Royal Dragon to the Royal Collection Trust (RCT). Thus, Bluebottle subsequently joined the large number of the RCT’s artefacts on long-term loan to The Royal Britannia Trust.

Having assumed full responsibility for Bluebottle’s much-needed restoration and ongoing maintenance costs, the Trust started looking for a boatyard that specialised in the restoration and construction of Dragons to ensure that all of the work was carried out in accordance with the Class rules. However, the Trust simply planned to display her in Leith alongside Britannia and Bloodhound with a view to the occasional demonstration sail, or participation within a regatta for classic sailing craft, when young sailors would be given the chance to gain experience in a Dragon.

Bob Downie approached the accomplished British Dragon sailor Graham Bailey, who was the Chairman of the British Dragon Association’s Technical Committee, for further advice. Bob subsequently discovered that Graham’s role also meant he was a member of the International Dragon Association's Technical Committee, which proved to be an added bonus as the project progressed. Graham has raced a broad range of sailing boats, beginning with National 12 dinghies, where he is a four-time Burton Cup winner. He was English Youth Champion in 1981 and moved on to compete in many dinghy classes plus several one-design keelboat classes, including Flying Fifteens, Stars and Etchells through to Olympic 470, Soling, and Flying Dutchman programmes, then on to several offshore campaigns including representing Great Britain in the Admirals Cup. His first Dragon regatta was in the early 1990s when he won the Irish championship as tactician for an American team, and he eventually settled on the Dragon as his main class, winning the Edinburgh Cup on three occasions. Graham suggested approaching the Essex based company Petticrows, which has built over 800 Dragons since 1988, and David Heritage Racing Yachts in Cowes. The latter company is owned and run by David Heritage, who is a successful international sailor in his own right and started his boatbuilding career working on wooden boats as an apprentice at the Elephant Boatyard in Bursledon on the River Hamble, before going on to specialise in the building, restoration and development of racing boats. His company is one of only three boatyards in the world to hold a license to build the 30ft International Etchells one-design keel boat. Over the years, he has worked closely with several of the most successful GB and Olympic dinghy and keelboat sailors, including Iain Percy, Sir Ben Ainslie, Ian Southworth, Shirley Robertson, Sarah Ayton, Andy Beadsworth and Graham Bailey's own race-winning Dragons.

David Heritage quickly emerged as the Trust’s preferred option to take on the prestigious task of bringing the Royal Dragon back to life. His involvement began in October 2017 when he was asked to conduct a thorough examination of Bluebottle, which revealed the true extent and cost of the required work. However, the project remained on hold for another 12 months while all of the paperwork was put in place between the NMMC and Buckingham Palace to facilitate Bluebottle’s transfer to the RYBT. On completion of this all-important administrative work, David was sent back to Falmouth for another inspection to see if there had been any further deterioration during the intervening period. Having confirmed that Bluebottle’s condition remained unchanged, David arranged for her to be carefully chocked up on a flatbed lorry for the 224-mile journey to his Cowes workshop.

David and his team had to approach the extensive restoration with care because the class rules specifically forbid any changes to a Dragon’s hull shape. Soon after arriving in Cowes, David’s team removed all loose items, checked the hull for twist and braced her, before removing the deck. Five building moulds were fitted to the empty hull to maintain her shape and supported her weight when the hull was turned over. Alternate planks were removed before the replacement timbers and keel floors were fitted. Each plank was removed, sanded and repaired before it was glued and screwed back into position, which enabled David’s team to retain 95% of Bluebottle’s original planking. Soft wood splines were subsequently fitted between the planks before the hull was sheathed in a 300 gram woven cloth and epoxy resin.

Once the hull had been turned upright again, David switched his attention to ensuring Bluebottle could withstand the loads generated by the combination of modern sail cloths, ball bearing blocks and Dymeena synthetic ropes. These loads have dramatically increased compared to those experienced by Bluebottle’s generation of Dragons. Therefore, her structure had to be strengthened by the fitting of three new bulkheads and ring frames fore and aft of the mast gate to ensure she could withstand today’s higher loads.

A conversation between the Trust’s Chairman, Rear Admiral Neil Rankin, and David Heritage shortly after the new decks were fitted sowed the seeds of Bluebottle’s return to the international regatta circuit. As they discussed David’s progress, Neil asked if he thought it would be possible for Bluebottle to compete on the classic yacht circuit. David explained that the hull repairs had fully restored Bluebottle’s structural integrity and she could be fitted out along the lines of how she appeared during her final season of racing in 1961. Neil approached the Palace to seek its approval for the change of plan. It is unknown why Prince Philip gave his blessing for the Royal Dragon’s return to racing, although it is thought that the idea of enabling young sailors to gain experience of racing a Dragon may have particularly appealed to His Royal Highness. Neil ensured that Prince Philip continued to receive regular reports and photographs of the progress.

Inspired by the opportunity to add a fresh chapter to Bluebottle’s rich racing heritage, the Trust decided to opt for a modern fit out. After all, if she was going to compete against the latest GRP Dragons, her future crew should benefit from the advances that had been made within the fleet in the past six decades. Graham and Julia Bailey’s Dragon Aimee was in David’s workshop at the time, so he used it to map out Bluebottle to get the right set up. The new mast, boom, spinnaker pole and GRP rudder all came from Petticrows, while North Sails made a new suit of sails.

The rejuvenated Royal Dragon was relaunched in October 2020 for a set of low key sailing trials in the Solent to assess whether she had the right set up. David invited Graham Bailey to take the helm and brought along his son Will and daughter Sophie to complete the crew. Within a few minutes of taking the helm, Graham turned to David and said he would take her into battle!

In the New Year, Graham Bailey accepted The Royal Yacht Britannia Trust’s invitation to become Bluebottle’s first Sailing Master since 1961. His recruitment enabled the Trust to benefit from the skills and experience of a formidable team who had worked closely together for more than twelve years, consisting of Graham’s wife Julia and David Heritage. Julia is an equally accomplished Dragon sailor and previous winner of the Edinburgh Cup in her own right. She started out racing Yorkshire One Designs from Bridlington, team raced for Oxford, and bought her first Dragon in 1999 with her brother, the year she met Graham. Julia and Graham then sailed often together in subsequent Petticrow Dragons they purchased, including when Graham helmed to win the Edinburgh Cup in 2014, 2017 and 2018. Julia became the first woman helmsman to win the Edinburgh Cup in 2015. She has also extensively campaigned her own Star and Etchells. Their combined support meant that Bluebottle could not have been in better hands for her return to the international regatta circuit.

These preparations were briefly put on hold as a mark of respect after Buckingham Palace announced Prince Philip’s death. Within hours of the announcement, David took Bluebottle down to the Royal Yacht Squadron to be present when they fired a salute to the late Duke of Edinburgh. It was a very moving experience for those present and gave the people of Cowes their first glimpse of the restored Bluebottle.

Bluebottle’s arrival in Leith in May completed Bob Downie’s vision of bringing Britannia, Bloodhound, Bluebottle and Coweslip together in the same place for the very first time. However, this was not to be the primary theme of the subsequent press event held on the quayside beside Britannia. Instead, the Trust wanted to shine the media spotlight firmly on the beautifully restored Royal Dragon and announce she would be competing for the Edinburgh Cup at the end of August at the nearby Royal Forth Yacht Club (RFYC) in Granton Harbour. The coveted trophy was given to the British Dragon Class by Prince Philip in 1949 for presentation to the winner of the British Open National Championship.

However, the Trust decided that Bluebottle would return to Cowes, before the Edinburgh Cup, to make her post restoration racing debut during the annual regatta. The decision recognised the central role Cowes had played throughout her original racing career from the generosity of the Island Sailing Club’s members to her numerous races in the Solent, including her first race in 1948, and several winter refits by Kingston Yacht Yard in East Cowes. It also provided a fitting tribute to the late Duke of Edinburgh’s long links to Cowes Week and the sport of yachting.

The decision set in motion a fairytale return to topflight racing for Bluebottle when she contested her first race in 60 years. Graham Bailey, crewed by Julia Bailey and David Heritage, pulled off the remarkable feat of winning Bluebottle’s first post restoration race before going on to win the Cowes Week Dragon series with a day to spare. The totally unexpected result validated Prince Philip’s decision to allow her to race again and provided a valuable testament to the integrity of the Dragon class rules which produce such evenly matched boats regardless of their age.

She has gone on to compete in national and international events in Scotland, Wales, Germany, Belgium, Turkey, France, Ireland, Portugal, Estonia and Finland. Each winter, Bluebottle returns to Cowes for David Heritage to prepare her for another season of topflight racing.