Thistle

In an effort to retain the Seawanhaka Cup, the Royal Northen Yacht Club on the Clyde, UK, formed a syndicate to build Thistle.

Designed by David Boyd and built by Alex Robertson in 1947 on the Gare Loch, she was launched too late for the competition and was rejected in favour of J. Howden Hume’s Johan, which also went on the represent Britain at the 1948 Olympic Games.

Thistle was subsequently purchased by Mrs. Dreyfus, who raced her until the end of the class in England in 1955, including in that year’s British-American Cup (in which Llanoria came top). Mrs Dreyfus owned Thistle until she died.

Eventually she was sold to Brian Cook, who took her up to Jarrow in Durham, where she was found just in time while he was actually converting her to a cruiser. In 1986, he was persuaded to bring her to Cowes to attend the second British Open Championships, in which she finished third in the “Ancients”.

Left afterwards at Fareham, in 1987 she was purchased by Tom Richardson who has owned her ever since, frequently winning the British Classic Championships, until he forsook her for Georgia.

At the 1988 Europeans at Falmouth, Tom in Thistle finished 8th overall, beating some 18 moderns, thereby leading to her being considered as the first ever European Classic Champion.

Now fully restored, she is once again as she was raced in Falmouth for the 2014 World Championships, with Tom at the helm. She is still regularly seen racing on the classic Six Metre scene.

Information kindly supplied by Fiona Brown/Tim Street.