Sad news reported by ClassicSailboats.org. The 114-year-old sailing yacht Iolaire was lost off Ibiza in late July. She ran ashore after an uncontrolled jibe and sank. The crew escaped without injury.
Iolaire, previously owned for over half a century by well-known sailor and author Don Street, had the distinction of being the only more than 100-year-old yacht to have been in continuous commission since she was launched; cruising and racing during both wars.
From ClassicSailboats.org:
When Don Street purchased Iolaire in St. Thomas in March 1957 he realized that the big heavy main boom, left over from her gaff-rigged days, could be a real widowmaker in an inadvertent jibe. From the earliest days whenever sailing broad off, a main boom fore guy/preventer was rigged. This was often a difficult job.
Thru the years Street worked out various better methods of rigging the main boom foreguy. By the early 80s, he developed the rig whereby the main boom foreguy running from the end of the main boom to the bowsprit end and back to a midship winch or cleat, could be rigged with no one going FORWARD of the mast. It was ALWAYS rigged when sailing broad off or dead downwind….
This was obviously not rigged on July 26. About 0200 Iolaire was sailing dead downwind along the NE coast of Ibiza, an inadvertent jibe, she headed inshore, hit rocks and sank ending a 114-year career of carrying sailors safely thru thick and thin. Owner/skipper and partner got ashore in a liferaft.
Iolaire for 52 years carried Don Street, his family, friends, and various Grenadian crew safely throughout the entire Eastern Caribbean and seven times across the Atlantic, eight times up and down the Thames or St. Kathrine or Lime House basins, all with no engine. Don cruised, chartered, raced, explored, and wrote about the Eastern Caribbean and the Atlantic islands. The explorations resulted in the Imray Iolaire charts of the Eastern Caribbean and the Atlantic island. The writing resulted in hundreds of articles, three books and his all-inclusive Guides to the Eastern Caribbean and the Cape Verdes.
That’s a sad news.The bright side is that the crew is safe. Iolaire took with it more than a century of sailing history. :'(
Sad news to lose a boat with this distinction. I hope Don is not too heartbroken.
Rick, thank you for this post. Don Street is my brother-in-law being married to my sister Patricia (Trich). I was quite shocked when I received this news somewhat after the event. It was amazing that Don accomplished so many voyages and ocean crossings with major incident only to have this happen under another command.
Good Watch
oops that’s “without major incident” !!!
Very sad; I’ve been following Don Street’s escapades for about 30 years, always an inspiration. I’m glad to learn he and his crew are safe and fingers crossed she was insured – yes, I know, irreplaceable, but it helps.
Iolaire sank under new ownership, just a few weeks after the sale
Sad to hear of the loss of this historical boat.
I knew Don and Iolaire in the West Indies and always admired the seamanlike manner she was handled, in and out of anchorages under sail.
It has to be like losing a family member for Don.
I will never forget Don and the docking maneuvers under sail at Crabbs. In Antigua
Always a sad event ,when a boat with such an amazing history, is lost
Noooooooo! Nonononoooo! Incompetent fools should have bought a Beneteau and wrecked that instead. That fine lady old battleaxe deserved better. Sorry Squeaky
So many questions about how this actually happened. Maybe we could all learn from some additional details. Does anyone have a link with additional info. Accidental gybes do not necessarily cause you to run your boat onto the rocks. Too close to shore? Did the boom break? Did the entire rig snap? I speak from experience as on this exact same day, delivering a Hanse 470e, we too accidentally gybed off of Cabo de Gato (not far from Ibiza) in 3 meter swells and 40kts. Our preventer (boom foreguy) gave way due to a soft shackle failure on the bow. Over the boom went and it snapped in half like a toothpick at the point where the main sheet attaches. Professional crew set about securing the boom and we motored to Alicante for a replacement. Only sharing as I’ve been a fan of Iolaire since I was a boy. I’m not at all disrespecting the crew, I’m just curious about the details and how we can all potentially benefit from this tragic loss. Very happy to hear that the crew are all ok.
There isn’t much more information publically available right now. You might want to follow the link to read a bit more, but there isn’t much.
http://classicsailboats.org/iolaire-lost-off-the-north-east-coast-of-ibeza/
I sailed on “Iolaire” with Don and Trich in the 80s – shot the “Antigua Race Week” and “Knots” Videos. We were ahead of our time – charged camera batteries with solar panel and Don supplemented boat volts with wind generator. She sailed rock steady and fast. A true pleasure to experience. Painful to see her go down but she will be remembered into eternity as will Don.