Classic Sparkman & Stephens sail yachts are taken to new life at the Pezzini shipyard in Viareggio
by Paolo Maccione 24 May 2021 01:49 PDT
Four refitted classic sailboats, all designed over the past half century by the legendary New York-based naval design firm Sparkman & Stephens.
This is what has recently happened at the Pezzini shipyard in Viareggio, Italy, a historic yacht shipyard founded in Tuscany in 1905. The boats are Ojalà II (1973), built in aluminum, the classic S&S Swan, fiberglass made, Black Tie (1981) and Vanessa (1985) and, finally, the wooden Mait II (1957). It is the demonstration of the complete variety, in the shipyard skills, able to intervene on all types of materials with which the boats are built.
Ojalà II, purebreds racing boat
Ojalà II is a Marconi sloop, one tonner IOR, 11.54 meter long, built in aluminum in 1973 by the dutch Royal Huisman shipyard, designed by Sparkman & Stephens. Every year, since 2009, the Pezzini Shipyard takes care of her ordinary and extraordinary maintenance. The boat belongs, from the launch day, to the Holland family, founder and owner, since 1950 of Amplifon an Italy-based company active in the hearing care retail market. In her life, she has participated in countless regattas, including the Fastnet Race, the 1973 One Ton Cup, four times at the Middle Sea Race (1979-2013-2015-2017), many editions of the Giraglia, of the Mediterranean Championships, the "Settimana delle Bocche", the Alassio Sailing Week, and 7 CIM/Panerai Trophy, reserved to vintage and classic boats. In 1977 she crossed the Atlantic Ocean and re-crossed it back to Europe, the following year.
Since the end of the 80s, the boat has always been looked after, coordinated and skippered by Michele Frova, born in 1953, a Milanese sailor, close friend of the Holland family, former company manager in the hardware market. In the past 12 years the boat has been present on the course line of at least 150 races. Only in 2018, in addition to winning the Livorno International Sailing Week, the Argentario Week and the Naples Week, she got on the podium in all the races in which she participated, and she was awarded the cups AIVE of Tirreno and the Sparkman & Stephens Trophy.
The stage refitting process of Ojalà II
2009 was the beginning of the rebirth of Ojalà II. Pezzini Shipyard dismantled the original teak slats deck, 45 mm wide and 12 mm thick, screwed onto a mahogany marine plywood support, in turn bolted to a network of aluminum beams. Subsequently, the superstructure and the toe rail were sandblasted at the points of attachment and welding of the new 5 mm thick aluminum panels, cut and prepared for their welding to the existing beams. The process kept on by leveling the new aluminum surface with epoxy fillers and ended with the laying, with polyurethane glue, of the new deck, made up of teak slats, 12 millimeters thick and more than 5 meters long.
In 2013 the whole electrical system has been renovated, in 2015 was installed a new engine Volvo Penta D2-55 - 55 HP, (which improved by 1 knot the cruising speed), in 2017 the galley and chart table areas have been completely and faithfully rebuilt in teak wood and the boat floor has been replaced. In 2019, after more than 200,000 sea miles, the old 14.75 meter long Sparlight aluminum mast was replaced by a new one, with two rows spreaders, made by Franco 'Ciccio' Manzoli 's Velscaf, with a classic aluminum profile and rod riggings. Also that year the first sanding of the Ojalà II bridge was carried out.
The sails wardrobe
The current dacron and nylon sail set of Ojalà II consist of about 25, made from 2009 to today, allowing her to compete indifferently with her IRC, ORC or CIM certificates. In 2009, Guido Cavalazzi got onboard Ojala II, as sails designer and crew member. Guido Cavalazzi, close friend, since his youth, of the team manager Michele Frova, is Senior Designer Consultant, in the classic area, at North Sails. He has been the sail designer and sailmaker of all the Italian campaigns at the America's Cup, for Azzurra, Il Moro di Venezia and Luna Rossa up to the Valencia edition. In particular, for Il Moro, in March 1992, Cavalazzi designed and produced the very first carbon laminate genoa, and mainsail, ever made in the world's sails history. Those sails have been manufactured in San Diego, utilising raw material worked out in Italy, by Montedison.
Black tie, another 'classic swan' refitted by Pezzini
Word of mouth matters. After the refitting of Vanessa, in 2020 (read the article here), the 1985 Swan 47 belonging to Matteo Salamon, President of Sparkman & Stephens Swan Association, another Swan owner, the milanese entrepreneur Massimo Crovetto has decided to make use of Pezzini shipyard for the refitting of Black Tie, his Swan 47, 14.57 meters long, launched in 1981 (she is n. 56, out of the 70 Swan 47 launched by the Finnish shipyard Nautor, between 1974 and 1985).
The boat, black as a "tuxedo", the american meaning for "smoking", sailed for several years in the USA, then arrived in Europe. It entered the shipyard in November 2020 and will return to sailing within next summer. In her case, as well, the most important intervention involved the refurbishment of her 37 square meters deck, with Burma teak. Among other works, the cockpit and the coach roof repainting, with white color Awlgrip, the replacement of the plexiglass of side windows, companionways and hatches, the replacement, in the keel, of the iron structure supporting the mast, the teak interior repainting, with two-component clear coatings and a final coat of protective oil, the hull sandblasting, followed by the anti-osmosis treatment and antifouling, the topsides polishing.
Sliding guides of all companionways, made by Tufnol, have also been replaced, as well as seals. The opening system of stowage lockers, in the cockpit, has been improved, by reversing the opening direction. Coaming and coach roof stripes have been repainted, and all aluminium deck fittings re-anodized (portholes, blocks, hatches etc.).
The laying of the new deck
How has been the new Black Tie deck built? After the dismantling of the old one, the new deck areas of cockpit, plywood templates were made on the cockpit, coachroof, side walkways, and benches areas, using plywood templates. The simulacrum, drawn on the lab ground, made it possible to prepare bands of teak slats 12 millimeters thick. Each plank, glued with polyurethane adhesives after leveling and priming with an epoxy insulating base, has a width of 4.2 cm and a maximum length of six meters with the headers (where one plank ends and another begins) cutted according to the English style (orthogonal to the keel line). The longest bands reach up to 15 meters. The timing of laying the new teak panels has been established according to specific technical tables, which take into account temperature and humidity. The new deck construction timing process took about 4 months. The new deck, if well treated, especially if brushed crosswise with respect to the longitudinal course of the slats, could last in optimal conditions over 15/20 years.
Sail Maneuvers
Mast, boom and all deck gear and fittings have been refitted, as well. After the disassembly and classification of the equipment, worked out by the viareggino Toolmaker Francesco Dinelli, the deck plan and the sailing maneuvers were redesigned and simplified. The storm trysailmast groove has been eliminated, with consequent closing of the relative holes by means of countersunk rivets normally used in the aeronautical field. After removing the mainsail mast groove, the original aluminum mast has been sandblasted, electrically insulated, with epoxy products, sprayed with polyurethane undercoat, abrasivaded with fine grain and finally sprayed with two coats of Awlgrip Topcoat Off -White paint. All stainless steel parts have been polished and all aluminium hardware re-anodized.
Mait II
Slowly, but tirelessly continues, since several seasons, the refitting of Mait II, the historical yawl Bermudian 18,80 meters long, designed by Sparkman & Stephens, built in 1957 by Baglietto Shipyard, at Varazze (GENOVA).
The boat, originally belonged to Commendator Italo Monzino, founder of "Standa" (italian department store shop chain) and patron of the homonymous cardiological center of Milan, was the first Italian boat to participate in 1959 at the Fastnet race. Francis Chichester, not yet Sir, was onboard. On that occasion Mait II finished in seventh place in First Class RORC ranking. In 1962 she was second at the Buenos Aires-Rio de Janeiro. She also participated to more than one Middle Sea Race and to the Cape Town to Rio. Today she belongs to the Milanese publisher Guido Tommasi.
Among the most recent interventions, we note the completion of the mahogany hull planking boards, 32mm thick, fixed with about 2000 copper nails, 10 cm long, 8 mm diameter (made in the shipyard), internally riveted by conical rosettes. Next steps are the restoration of the rudder blade and shaft, of the propeller shaft case, of the base for a new engine, and the reconstruction of the interior furnitures, designed by Studio Faggioni. All shipyard activities are carried out by the owner, Massimo Pezzini, his uncle Sandro Pezzini, and the Viareggino Luca Sessa, a skilled worker, active in the shipyard since the end of the 80s.
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