" Lady of Bermuda "
The LADIES are
a serie - 13,20 metre deck length
- 3,90 metre beam
- 1,50 metre draught
- about 130 m2 of sail can be carried
- maximum load 13 tonnes
The 13,20 metre Lady of Bermuda is certainly the yacht in which I have incorporated
the most innovations! Her design and the special points of her building make
her a real yacht which hardly costs any more than a well equipped plastic
boat of the same size.
I especially wanted to make a boat which sailed fast and quite simply manoeuvred
itself and I'm not joking! I'm really not a sporting type and I never have
been. I am an ocean sailor who loves cruising and who appreciates that everything
should be simple and efficient on board and above all I like to arrive safely,
and not too tired!
It was when I was stuck in the St Georges lagoon in the Bermudas that I was
able to admire American Bugeyes and Bermudan schooners for the first time.
Their beautiful shapes, of rare elegance and incredible simplicity can only
be admired. Their hard chine pointed stern hulls built with traditional planking
gave me the idea of transposing them into marine ply construction. Don't misunderstand
me, this is not lightweight marine ply on strakes and partitions but thick
marine ply on a strong frame to make a strong boat with heavy displacement
and a lot of momentum. With a V-shaped hull the boat is seaworthy in all circumstances.
Her behaviour is extremely pleasant: no rolling, no pitching
I managed to design the chine to be horizontal and on the water line. In this
way it becomes invisible! Even when heeled! Lady of Bermuda provides the grace
of a rounded hull she's a real yacht! or rather a Lady! thanks to her pure
thoroughbred lines.
Marine ply building has thus climbed to the level of "quality yachting" and
has acquired for the first time a noble status, while at the same time becoming
a reliable, strong and durable method of construction. Thanks to epoxies the
maintenance of this yacht is of course very easy.
Her "Bermudan" or "three-sail" rig is unbelievably simple and really can be
handled solo. The sails can be hoisted in 15 minutes and dropped in 2.
Accommodation is laid out for a family or couple wishing to receive friends.
Everything is generous and spacious. Galley, chart table, office, saloon (2
simple or 1 double berth), a cabin with a double berth (1,50 m x 2 m), a bathroom
with shower. Everything is large, which is quite unusual for a boat of this
size. This impression is further accentuated by the fact that communication
with the fore cabin is by a bulkhead in the form of a wide open frame:
- Closed it cuts off the fore cabin to provide privacy.
- Open, below decks the boat forms one huge cabin, opening a view of the whole
length of the boat Lady of Bermuda is suitable for all types of sailing: weekend
cruises or tropical passage making, and even northern latitudes.
The method of construction used for the Lady in the standard hard chine version
cannot be built by an amateur. However, the boat can easily be finished from
a bare hull, or finished major works produced by a yard.
For amateurs who would like to build such a yacht themselves I have designed
a version with a rounded hull for simplified moulded wood building. There
are two choices of sail plans for this version:
- Belles des Bermudes with Bermudan rig
- Mam Racoon with a gaff rig.
Note! These amateur versions need to be built upside down and require to be
turned over! The budget required for buying materials chandlery and fittings
is depending on your options and a 6,000 to 8,000 hours of labour depending
on how you are organized.
Hervé Coutand
Bordeville - 16170 Rouillac - France
Phones: 33 (0)5 45 21 70 23 / 33 (0)6
82 39 37 92
The folowing designs are only documentations,
property of Zoé Bombigher (Bombigher 's daugther), no construction,
distribution, reproduction, publication, without written autorisation (11
of march 1907-1957 law).