Thursday, January 27, 2005

The Beychevelle

The Bey on High Rock Lake NC USA in 1998

With enough Beychevelle wine and lots of hard work we plan over the next year to restore a beautiful sailboat. Beychevelle (The Bey) is a one on a kind 26' mahogany boat built in the early 1970's in Switzerland. The exact history of her is still not fully know, however over the next year we hope to revel her many secrets. Mr John McKernan ,an expert in wooden boat rebuilding, will be a major part of this project. Ride with us till launch and beyond. Build the BEY. More to come....
Beychevelle means lowering of sails..

Beychevelle Wine


History that I have of the Beychevelle as stated by Mr. Michael Dana in November,1997

Reference: 26ft sloop

The boat was built in 1970/71 by the Swiss company, Boesch, located in Zurich. Boesch was a prewar sailboat maker who later turned to motor boat manufacture. This sailboat was custom built for one of the retiring directors, who spent a few years with his wife sailing Lake Zurich. The boat must have been built “off the books” for the director, because when I wrote them for technical specs, they explained that no sailboats had been “sold” after 1949. Both the boat yard owner, the previous owner and the previous owner’s surveyor stated that she was built by Boesch. The boat was constructed with the same quality workmanship as their power boats. It is stress skin mahogany plywood/oak frame construction. The interior is all in brightwork and is a pleasure to see.

The boat was brought over to the Long Island New York area by the Swiss owner, who sailed it there until it was purchased by a New York attorney in 1988.

I am attempting to confirm this with the Boesch company and will post the findings as soon as I know.

1 comment:

Steve Holland said...

No info as of 1700/05 Feb 2005