Nancy
Nancy was designed by Olin Stephens and beautifully built by Nevins in 1932 for three members of the Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club of Oyster Bay, expressly for the British-American Team Races to be held that year at Cowes. Due to the bad situation on Wall Street, Olin Stephens was invited to helm her and the US team won in a clean sweep. The other US boats were the Olin Stephens designed Bob Kat II and Jill, with Lucie by Clinton Crane for Briggs Cunningham, making the fourth team member. This was the first American team to win in the Solent and was certainly partly due to their getting to England three weeks before the match, where they all lived in a team house and practised every day. They did get a fright however when all four boats ended up high and dry on the Brambles Bank, but all returned to harbour safely on the rising tide.
After the match, and due to the Wall Street crash, Nancy stayed in England and was sold to a Harold Edwards on the Gareloch in Scotland, where she went and was re-named Dragon.
In 1936 the Six Metre Class was re-formed on the Solent so Harold Edwards brought her south and she had a distinguished record racing at both Burnham-on-Crouch and on the Solent, where she finished second overall in both 1938 and 1939.
After the war she was purchased by a C.M. Coates of Lymington who raced her in the 1947 Cowes Week, together with another eleven Sixes. She did not get a place, however, so over the winter he sold her to H.V and T.K. Culpan who reverted to her original name of Nancy. In 1948 she took part in Poole Week, together with eight much newer Sixes, gaining a first and second during the week.
By 1951 she had been sold to Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex and raced in Burnham Week. By 1956 she had been fitted with a cabin and small deckhouse designed by Laurent Giles and been measured for an RORC Rating for Ocean Racing, subsequently taking part in a number of East Coast offshore races over the next few years. She was then sold to Capt. Mike Henry RN, who took her back up to the Gareloch where he owned her for twenty-five years, taking part in many Scottish cruiser races.
In the early 1990s she was sold to A.C. Joyce who brought her South to the Hamble, taking part in the 1995 Coupe de L’Entente Cordiale in the Solent and British Open Championships, still with her cabin. She was subsequently bought by R. Dean Wilson and Ms Valerie Wilson Trower who owned her prior to selling her to Bill Green, the founder and principal of Green Marine, Lymington. Bill undertook a complete rebuild to her original status as a Six Metre, subsequently fitting a Third Rule keel to a design by Olin Stephens. Having brought her fully up to date he and his son Pom raced her in major international events for the first time since 1932.
Nancy (US60) placed within the top 5 of the Classic Division of two European Championships: winning the gold in 2004 in Porto Rotondo, Italy; and placing 4th in 2006 in Flensburg, Germany.
In 2016, Nancy won the British Open Championship, the Panerai Cup in Cowes and the Hamble Classics.
In 2017, Elephant Boatyard replaced 30 ribs and fit stainless steel mast strengthening. She was also re-painted.
At the World Championships 2023 in Cowes, UK, Nancy (GBR28) finished in 2nd place in the Corinthian trophy, Classic Division.
Thank you to Fiona Brown and Tim Street for information contributing to this profile.
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