The restoration work on Fortuna II was completed in late May 2018.  Her owners, John and Catherine, with the support of son Aidan,  took her off to Scotland in early June.  She comfortably reached Ardfern, her new summer mooring, without incident and on a single tank of fuel.  I was sad to see her go but also relieved that, after such a major refit, she made the journey north so smoothly.

Nigel Sharp, a regular contributor to Classic Boat Magazine, had written a feature on Fortuna II during initial sea trials in 2017 that was published in Classic Boat #364 – October 2018.  The article is not available online but the teaser is available at Classic Boat #364 October 2018 Preview.

The article and awards write up highlighted an interesting point regarding the differing agendas of a magazine editor, who is often looking for a unique ‘peg’ on which to hang a story and the boatbuilder, who has a much greater focus, at least in this case, on the aesthetic  of the completed boat.

Anyone who has looked critically at boats for any length of time knows well that the very great majority of boats look good from some angles and less good from others.   Fred Parker, designing Fortuna II in the late 1950’s was operating within design constraints (volume, comfort etc) that ensured that Fortuna II would never be able to look good from every angle.   So, given this fact, how should a representative photograph be chosen?

In the case of Classic Boat Magazine, the ‘peg’ for the feature was clear from the title: ‘Sail to Power’.  The story of how a sailing couple migrated from a sailboat to a motor cruiser – with a  ‘compact’ sailing rig.  The best available photograph to illustrate this was a photo of the vessel – beam on – with all sails set.

I’ll leave you to judge which of the following three photographs best represents Fortuna II from an aesthetic standpoint.

 

The photographs were all taken by Nigel Sharp who retains the copyright.