History of Your Classic Boats: Tramp of Airlie, a Sparkman & Stephens for the Admiral’s Cup

Tramp of Airlie | History of Your Classic Boats

More than 200 of you have sent us stories and images of your Classic Boats, enriching theonline archive dedicated to them and making so many of these great designs of the last century available to all. Keep up the good work! Now, however, after recounting dozens of them through your words and descriptions, it is time to also see the history and details of some of these great projects.

So here is a little aluminum masterpiece,
Tramp of Airlie
(1976), designed by Sparkman & Stephens as a contender for the 1977Admiral’s Cup. A piece of IOR history.

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Tramp of Airlie | Origins

Tramp of Airlie was commissioned in 1976 by Torquato Gennari as project No. 2222 C2 by the New York firm Sparkman & Stephens, one of three identical boats designed as contenders for the Italian team at the 1977 Admiral’s Cup. Unfortunately, she will not pass the selection stages, thus being excluded from that year’s Admiral’s.

Tramp of Airlie | Project

As the twins, Prospect of Whitby IV and Dorothea, is a classic IOR S&S design from the late 1970s. Made of aluminum by the Officina Meccanica Navale of Pesaro* she presents, in fact, a particularly abundant maximum beam in relation to her overall length (13.5 x 3.7 m), with still pronounced soaring and a particularly classic stern, typical of the studio’s designs of that period. In the lines of the latter, in particular, it does not, in fact, fail to remind one of the just-earlier Swan 47 (1975), slightly larger in size but still signed Sparkman & Stephens.

As for sail plan, Tramp of Airlie features the classic masthead rigging with genoa overlapping typical of the early IOR, while, looking at the deck plan, the flush profile is among the most obvious, with only the whinch and pastecks anchors emerging from an otherwise pristine deck. Current maneuvers are all deferred to the two cockpits, including the mainsail track carriage, which is sandwiched between the wheelhouse and center cockpit.

Today

After her purchase in the late 1990s, Tramp was gradually adapted for cruise use, keeping the lines, rig, and deck plan true to the original design, but transforming the interior for her new use. Relocated to the east coast of the United Kingdom, she recently underwent a major refit at Fox’s Marina & Boatyard, where the hull was fully restored and refurbished. Today -her owner, C. Hames, tells us- she continues to sail along the English coast and along the English Channel, still racing in both offshore circuits and RORC and/or dedicated Classics events. Find his file HERE.

Technical Specs

*discrepancies regarding the builder site are present. In some cases it is listed as the builder Calligari, a shipyard from Ravenna, again based on S&S design No. 2222 C2.

Three “tidbits” about Classic Boats

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