QUEEN OF THE SEAS

FROM CHILDHOOD MEMORIES TO A BRAND NEW KETCH DESIGNED TO HANDLE THE 21ST CENTURY, SAECWEN’S OWNER HAS CREATED A TRUE MODERN CLASSIC, AS NIC COMPTON FINDS OUT

The original Saecwen owned by Charles Watson’s family for nearly 30 years

‘She might be new, but even before her maiden sail, Saecwen was steeped in history'

“Look at that piece of oak behind you. I first met that tree when I was a kid, growing up in the New Forest. Ten years ago it blew over in a storm but I managed to buy a chunk of it through a forester friend. It’s a 400 or 500-year-old piece of oak – the same wood used to build Nelson’s navy – and now it’s the centrepiece of the boat. On the other side, the names of all the people who worked on the boat are carved.”

We are hunkered down in the saloon of Saecwen, the latest design by Nigel Irens launched at the Elephant Boatyard only a few days earlier, while the rain patters on the skylight above. The boat’s owner, PR consultant Charles Watson, is telling me about the genesis of the boat. It is a very personal and at times emotional story, stretching back not only to his childhood but over three generations of his family. The 50ft ketch might be a new launch from the drawing board of one of Britain’s most successful racing yacht designers, but even before her maiden sail Saecwen was already steeped in history.

When I turn around to look where Charles is pointing, I’m faced with a massive wooden post between the galley and the saloon. It’s the only piece of oak on the entire boat and it seems to not only carry the weight of the coachroof but to represent a bridge between past and present, new and old. It is, in so many ways, the heart of the vessel.

A FAMILY AFFAIR