William Fife III Gaff-Rigged 102 ft Schooner 2003

The re-creation of William Fife's beautiful 1901 schooner SUNSHINE in Myanmar a century after the original build at Fairlie is one of the great romances of the classic yacht revival. The result is a thoroughly practical classic yacht, faithfully replicating William Fife III’s sweet and efficient lines, deck layout and rig design, but with an easily maintained steel hull designed and built under Lloyd’s supervision, and a modern interpretation in her beautifully hand crafted accommodation that is convivial yet still offers privacy. The whole retains the elegance of the past and evokes the great schooner era of the early 1900s. SUNSHINE is a yacht with huge personality. In present ownership she has been maintained to the standard demanded by both her provenance and commercial coding, and is ready to be thoroughly enjoyed.

2023
- Sand blasting hull to bare metal
- 12 x Hempels primer, filler & top coats
- 2 x Hempels Mille NCT red antifouling
- New crew area air conditioning
- New aft toilet
- New galvanic isolator at shore power transformer
- New mufflers for engine and generator
- New 316 stainless steel exhaust piping
- New B&G speed and depth
2022
- Passed 5-year commercial vessel coding survey
- All new standing rigging; Rigging Certificate
- New bronze skylight catches
- New AIS transceiver
- Passed GMDSS Inspection
2021
- Both masts unstepped
- Fully serviced and repaired as necessary
- All blocks fully serviced
- All new rigging screws
- All blocks fully serviced
- New Generator
- New batteries
- New Inverter/ charger
- New watermaker inc. piping, seacocks
- 4 x New latex/ foam guest mattresses
2020
- New piping to engine, generator and aircon
- Improved aircon fancoils at aft cabins
- New fresh water piping
- New 316 Stainless steel propeller shaft
- Full servicing of all associated stern gear
- Full service of propeller
- Rudder shaft fully serviced
- Hydraulic and electric windlass motors fully serviced
- New windlass regulator
2019
- New fresh water pump
- New anemometer
- New halyards
- New toilets
2018
- New sail wardrobe by Incidence
- Safety equipment upgraded under survey
- New headsail halyards
2017
- Redesign of main deck dining arrangement
- New deck cushions
- New awnings

WILLIAM FIFE & SON DESIGN NUMBER 468

The original schooner SUNSHINE was ordered in the summer of 1900 by successful Glasgow stockbroker from a Lanarkshire colliery owning background, Francis Glen MacAndrew, whose Firth of Clyde coastal residence was Knock Castle, about 6 miles north of the Fife yard at Fairlie.

In the late 1890s MacAndrew had become a yacht owner by inheritence, briefly in command of his late brother's small steam yacht EVERA. But Knock's imposing position at the edge of the raised beach between Largs and Wemyss Bay couldn't fail to instill the romance of the sea, and perhaps a desire for a more elegant vessel moored off the house. While SUNSHINE was in build, MacAndrew had a boathouse and concrete slip built at Knock.

SUNSHINE was launched on Thursday 2nd May 1901, The Yachtsman magazine's Clyde correspondent noting: "...while she is intended primarily for cruising, she is a thorough modern in her type and general appearance." In other words, she was expected to be no slouch.

So it panned out. After a first summer of cruising the west coast of Scotland, on her return to the Clyde in late August SUNSHINE entered the 'Closing Cruises' and regattas of both the Royal Clyde and Royal Northern Yacht Clubs. At the Royal Clyde's regatta of Friday 30th August 1901, her first race, she won line honours and on handicap - in a tour of the Clyde from Hunter's Quay to Rothesay via a circumnavigation of the Cumbrae Isles - against an assortment of the large local yachts, including G.L. Watson's CARINA, William Fife Jr's DRAGON, his father William Fife Sr's venerable 1874 BLOODHOUND, and A.E. Payne's VENDETTA.

And on Saturday 7th September 1901 SUNSHINE again won line and handicap honours in the Royal Northern's race from Tighnabruaich down the West Kyle of Bute into Loch Fyne and back. The largest yacht then built at Fairlie was certainly more than just a cruiser - she was also a flyer.

Meanwhile at Fairlie, a sister ship was under construction for Newcastle shipowner Walter Runciman (whose son, also Walter would become a future owner of Fife's last schooner, ALTAIR). Launched in the spring of 1902 as ASTHORE, somewhat confusingly for two such similar schooners, in future ownership she was re-named SUNSHINE.

After a long life under various names with an eclectic succession of owners, including Queen Amélia of Portugal from 1906 to 1910, and, from 1930 until his death in 1947, as MISURATA, SUNSHINE was the yacht of Count Giuseppe Volpi di Misurata, most probably moored at Venice. She disappeared from records in the early 1950s.

©2024 Iain McAllister/ Sandeman Yacht Company Ltd.

Nobody tells the story of the late 1990s embryonic stages of SUNSHINE's re-creation better than Scottish marine artist Alastair D. Houston, because he was part of it, and moreover born and brought up in Fairlie:

"SUNSHINE: her story is a remarkable one, both originally and in recent years; originally built in 1901, but gone. I met up with Peter Wood and we visited the Glasgow Museum of Transport. Peter said he was looking for some adventure and a project (which was and still is his forte!). As we got round to the model section, there was SUNSHINE. Peter proclaimed, 'That's the one!", and with great tenacity and skill he set about building this fine vessel once again. She was completed after a fantastic effort in Myanmar, and sailed back to the Mediterranean where she is today."

Inspired by the rebuild at Yangon of the Fife fast cruiser MOONBEAM IV, and of course his sense of adventure, Wood chose the same yard for SUNSHINE's build. Here high competency in steel shipbuilding and a tradition of fine carpentry fit-out dates back to the second half of the 19th Century, much of the infrastructure and culture set up by Clydeside shipbuilders, including, by association with the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company, the great shipbuilding innovators William Denny Brothers of Dumbarton, builders of Fife's beautiful 1903 America's Cup challenger SHAMROCK III.

Construction began in 1999, the principal steel hull components having been cut and rolled in Holland and shipped east. SUNSHINE's Lloyd's SSC approved hull was launched in 2003 and fit-out was completed in 2004 when she sailed for Europe via Thailand, India, Malaysia, Maldives, Yemen, Egypt, and Tunisia - arriving in the Mediterranean in time for the Autumn regattas of 2005.

Since then, in original and present ownership, SUNSHINE has been a regular, beautiful and spectacular participant at classic regattas throughout the Mediterranean, and a successful, coded charter yacht, including a period of return to the far east.

©2024 Iain McAllister/ Sandeman Yacht Company Ltd.

Built under Lloyd's SSC supervision and to MCA requirements
- 5 year Coding Inspection, 2022
- Hull of Dutch marine grade 9.6 mm steel
- Cut and rolled in Holland prior to transport to Myanmar
- Lead ballast encapsulated within steel keel
- All interior hard and sharp steel edges rounded off prior to painting
- 4 x Watertight bulkheads
- Integral tanks
- All chafe susceptible steel edges protected with stainless steel
- i.e:
- chain plate bolt holes
- hawse pipes
- fairleads
- deck margins
- bulwarks under the wooden rail
- Solid 2¼ in semi swept deck of solid, long length ¼-sawn Burma teak
- Teak deck laid direct to steel deckbeams
- Caulked with cotton and stopped with black rubber
- Butt joints are minimal
- Planks are fastened from below; no plugs on deck

GENERAL
- Semi swept teak deck
- Teak superstructures
- Steel and stainless steel bulwarks
- Teak capping rail
- 8 x 'Lemon squeezer' deck lights

FROM AFT
- Ensign staff socket
- Panama fairleads port and starboard
- Bronze and teak main runner cleats port & starboard
- Wood shell blocks for main runner tackles
- Bronze mainsheet horse
- Wood shell mainsheet blocks
- Liferaft stowage

HELM POSITION AREA
- Steering gear box
- Ship's wheel
- Steering compass binnacle
- Boom gallows
- Bronze mainsheet winches port & starboard

COCKPIT AREA
- Teak forward and side coamings
- Beautiful teak table
- Raised companionway hatch forward
- Bronze double mooring bollards port & starboard
- Fine tune main runner purchases port & starboard
- 2 x Bronze cleats port & starboard
- 2 x Bronze and teak cleats port & starboard

DECKHOUSE AREA
- Teak deck lockers forward form seating arrangement
- 2 x Bronze and teak cleats port & starboard

MID DECK
- Teak dining table with 6 x teak chairs
- 3 x Bronze halyard winches

MAIN MAST POSITION
- Pinrails at shrouds
- Liferaft stowage point aft of mast

UNDER FORESAIL
- Large, raised butterfly skylight
- Deck chocks for tender stowage
- 2 x Bronze and teak cleats port & starboard
- 2 x Large bronze and teak cleats port & starboard
- 2 x Bronze mushroom cleats port & starboard
- Raised butterfly skylight

FOREMAST POSITION
- 2 x Large lockers at base
- 2 x Bronze and teak cleats at base
- Pinrails and running lights boards at shrouds

FOREDECK
- Raised sliding forehatch
- Anchor cats port & starboard
- Bowsprit and custom steel fittings
- Ship's brass bell
- Bronze double mooring bollards port & starboard

GROUND TACKLE
- Thomas Reid electro-hydraulic windlass
- 2 x chain gipsys; 2 x warping drums
- 2 x Bronze bitts
- 2 x Galvanised fisherman type anchors
- 2 x aft anchor winches 145 kg each

GENERAL

Accommodation for 8 guests

The interior, hand crafted from teak and rosewood, is a variation from the original layout to allow for mandatory modern safety standards, such as the 4 watertight bulkheads, and a more modern way of life. The superbly finished result is comfortable, attractive and spacious.

FROM AFT

DOGHOUSE
- 2 x Steps down to doghouse sole
- Small chart table to port
- Leather upholstered banquettes port & starboard
- Stowage under
- Small fiddled sideboards forward to port & starboard
- AIS transponder and VHF radio at aft bulkhead
- Lockers aft
- Simrad chart plotter screen forward
- Ship's clock forward
- 2 x Opening ports forward
- Brass deckhead light

3 x STEPS DOWN OVER ENGINE SPACE TO OPEN LOBBY
- CHART TABLE/ OFFICE TO PORT
- GALLEY TO STARBOARD

CHART TABLE/ OFFICE TO PORT
- Barometer and clock
- Lockers
- Fridge to port in locker
- Door to engine space

GALLEY TO STARBOARD
- L-shaped surfaces
- Smeg 3 x burner propane stove w. oven; seagoing fiddles
- Panasonic microwave
- Elba fridge
- Elba deep freezer
- Saeco coffee maker
- Deep stainless steel 'Belfast' style sink
- Mixer tap
- Many plate lockers
- Crockery lockers
- 5 x Deckhead lights
- 4 x Bulkhead lights

SALOON
- L-Shaped settees to port and starboard
- Dining area to starboard
- Seating area to port

SEATING TO PORT
- Buffalo leather upholstered settees
- Chest table (tool stowage within)

DINING AREA TO STARBOARD
- Large gimballed table
- 2 x Upholstered 'captain's' chairs

FORWARD VIA CORRIDOR TO GUEST CABINS

DOUBLE GUEST CABIN TO PORT
- Double berth
- Drawers under
- Door to port bathroom
- Bulkhead light
- Deckhead light

DOUBLE GUEST CABIN TO STARBOARD
- Double berth
- Drawers under
- Door to starboard bathroom
- Bulkhead light
- Deckhead light

PORT BATHROOM
- Tiled sole
- Shower
- Electric toilet
- Sink with mixer tap
- Lockers
- Deckhead light

STARBOARD BATHROOM
- Tiled sole
- Shower
- Electric toilet
- Sink with mixer tap
- Lockers
- Deckhead light

2 x AFT CABINS (AFT OF GALLEY)

OWNER CABIN TO PORT AFT
- Companionway access from cockpit
- Double berth; drawers under
- Banquette with side table
- En-suite WC/ shower
- Tiled sole
- Shower
- Electric toilet
- Sink with mixer tap
- Lockers
- Deckhead light

GUEST CABIN TO STARBOARD AFT
- Double berth; drawers under
- Deckhead light
- Bulkhead light
- En-suite WC Compartment
- Tiled sole
- Shower
- Electric toilet
- Sink with mixer tap
- Lockers
- Deckhead light

CREW CABIN TO STARBOARD
- 2 x Bunks
- Hanging lockers
- 1 x Bulkhead light
- 1 x Deckhead light

WC COMPARTMENT TO PORT
- Tiled sole
- Shower
- Electric toilet
- Sink with mixer tap
- 2 x Deckhead lights

FO'C'SLE
- 4 x Bunks
- Banquettes under
- Ladder to forehatch in deckhead
- Lockers
- Hisense washing machine
- Deckhead spotlights
- 2 x Bulkhead lights
- Forward to chain locker

RIG
- All spars from laminated Alaskan Sitka spruce
- Single sets of spreaders
- Spreader lights
- Stepped topmasts
- Galvanised steel standing rigging (2022)
- Galvanised steel rigging screws (2021)
- Running rigging (2017/2019)

SAILS
- Total sail area 5,296 sq ft / 492 sq m
- Incidence Sails cream Dacron (2018)
- Mainsail
- Foresail
- Staysail
- Jib
- Flying jib
- Fore topsail
- Main topsail
- Fisherman
- 2 x Storm Sails

CANVASWORK
- Boom sail covers
- Awnings (2017)
- Covers for deck superstructures
- Tender sponsons cover
- Tender outboard motor cover (2019)
- Deck cushions (2017)

MECHANICAL
- Cummins Diesel 300 hp 6CTA.8.3 - M1 (2003)
- Twin Disc MG 5067 gearbox (2003)
- 316 Stainless propeller shaft (2020)
- Bruntos Autoprop auto pitch propeller; centreline aperture
- Double worm gear steering

MECHANICAL-ELECTRICAL
- 19 kW Cummins Onan 19MDKDV generator (2021)

ELECTRICAL
- 12 / 24 V electrical system
- 12 V x 220 Ah Batteries (2021)
- Victron Quattro inverter charger (2021)
- 3 x 12 V Batteries
- 24 V Alternator
- Dolphin 80 A charger
- Dolphin 20 A charger
- Battery monitor
- 15 kVA isolating shore power transformer
- 2 x 24 V blowers exhaust & fan

TANKAGE AND ASSOCIATED
- Fuel: 3,000 L / 660 UK Gal
- Water: 4,000 L / 880 UK Gal
- Idromar MC2J watermaker; 130 L/ hour (2021)
- Pressure water system (Pump 2019)

OTHER
- 120 PSI air compressor
- Air conditioning throughout

NAVIGATION
- Simrad AIS V5035 Transceiver
- Simrad GPS plotter screen
- Simrad CR44 Radar
- Simrad RD 69 VHF
- Navtex ICS
- B&G (wind/ speed/ log)
- Barometer
- HP deskjet printer
- Searchlight
- Air horn

COMMUNICATIONS
- Sailor 6222 VHF Radio
- 2 x Handheld VHF (2018)

Lifesaving
- 2 x Liferafts (2018)
- 3 x Lifebuoys
- SOLAS lifejackets

Bilge pumping
- All pumps new 2018

Alarms:
- 7 x Fire
- Black and grey water tanks
- Smoke
- Bilge

Fife fighting
- Fire hose
- Fire extinguishers (2018)

TENDER
- Lux SX Protender 100094 4.2 m (8-persons)
- Tiller controlled outboard motor (2019)

DIVING
- Regulator (2018)
- Tank (2018)
- Buoyancy control device (2018)

'TOYS'
- 2 x Paddle boards (2019)

- Deck shower / washdown

Main image: Gilles Martin-Raget