The Survey

Cynara, unlike other surviving yachts of her age in Europe and the Americas, had never undergone a serious restoration, having spent 45 of her 90 years in and around Miura, Japan. In 2014, a plan was first devised to send Cynara to Europe to be restored. Then Riviera Group Chairman Noboru Watanabe decided to investigate the possibility of doing the restoration in Japan.
He invited Paul Harvey and Ben Hobbs, a team of Mallorca-based shipwrights, to come to Japan and conduct a survey and inspection of Cynara’s condition. She was taken to a boatyard in Miura Port and pulled up the slipway for several days while they took notes and photographs of as much as they could see.
On a positive note, the boat was intact, and nothing serious was missing. The results of the survey suggested that large percentages of certain parts of the boat—particularly the deck structures and the more historically valuable parts of the interior—could be reused after restoration. But there were some serious structural issues that would need a more in-depth investigation. The teak of the hull planking looked promising, but access to the frames was limited and fastenings drawn from various hull locations were in poor condition.
While the teak planks seemed firm, it was clear there was some distortion in the hull. Without removing the interior to see the condition of the frames, shelves and beams, how much of the structure could be saved could only be estimated. If the boat were to be restored in Japan, a team of craftsmen would have to be assembled locally and from overseas. Sourcing materials would also be a concern. Purpose-built structures to hold Cynara, and her disassembled parts would have to be constructed on Riviera’s Seabornia Marina site.
A few months later, after studying the shipwrights’ proposal, Mr. Watanabe decided to proceed. It was a momentous decision, as nothing like this had ever been attempted in Japan.

Dismantlement 

With the boat safely ensconced under a special tent on the dock, the dismantling work on Cynara began in April, 2017. After removing each part one by one, in a very specific order, pieces were marked with tape indicating their order of placement and then stored in racks. The first thing the Japanese staff at the site learned from Master Shipwright, Paul Harvey was to “always remember the four letters: P (Portside), S (Starboard Side), A (Aft), and F (Forward) and write them on every part.” As the work proceeded, the quality of the work by the original shipbuilders 90 years ago became so obvious that their pride and passion was tangible. 

The Hull 

Restoration of the hull planking began soon after the dismantling with the removal of paint on the ship’s bottom. Despite the huge task, restoration leaders Paul Harvey and Ben Hobbs banned the use of power tools on this task to avoid damaging the outer planking, and a three-man team did the entire job with hand-held scrapers. The idea to minimize any damage was made knowing how difficult it is to find teak planks of the same length, which pushed the team towards maximum salvation of anything that could be reused.
The hull planking was in good condition, though some of it needed to be replaced. Eventually, however, 92 percent of the original teak planking was salvaged. Finding seven-meter-long planks led to a search of Japanese sawmills far and wide.
Even for experienced craftsman, fitting a new plank  is a painstaking and uncompromising experience. After the last plank was finished, which took place on February 2019, our persistent and dedicated documentarian photographer, Yoichi Yabe, was asked to wait until the following day to take a ceremonial photo.

Interior

The original drawings that we received from the UK’s National Maritime Museum portrayed a ship interior that was not too different in style from Cynara’s appearance at the start of the restoration. Of course, there were obvious differences in the cabin layouts, the galley facilities, and other areas. The most striking discovery was that the 1927 plans show a bathroom almost as large as a stateroom, including a bathtub! There were other changes made as technologies and fads changed preferences. Out was the solid-fuel iron stove and its stove pipe, for example. In were 1960’s-era navigation instruments and later,  Japanese sinks, taps and toilets.

Luckily for Cynara, most of her major interior repairs, refurbishing, and layout changes over the years were done by Camper and Nicholsons in Gosport, UK, the same shipyard that launched her back in 1927. The work was done in the same style, reflecting the shipyard’s well-known attention to detail and the use of quality materials, from the French polished flame mahogany panels to the hand-made light fittings and switches. The owner therefore decided to retain as much of the interior décor as possible, while making sure the additions followed the original style.
So that’s what was done. The mahogany panels remain, most of them original. Restoration was also done on the many light fixtures, the portholes, the gimbaled base of the saloon table. The new furniture copies the original style, even if the purpose is different. The only difference is the century’s worth of scratches and dents that were left in many of the old pieces to maintain the history and “lived-in” character of a classic yacht.

Exterior

Like the interior, it was obvious that the layout and various structures on the deck had gone through changes over the years. Some things had clearly become obsolete, and had been replaced. 

The remaining structures on the deck looked reasonable for their age, but there were some telltale signs of trouble. The boat had a pronounced hog, meaning the fore and after ends were sagging, and to fix this was a major priority in the restoration. The hatches and skylights were all looking battered and tired and at first glance possibly irretrievable. But after being dismantled and cleaned, we decided they were worth saving and restoring. Today, all of the hatches, except for the circular sail locker hatch, are restored originals.

Much of the original rigging hardware was iron, and we replaced these with bronze fittings. We restored and reused the bronze fittings that had survived—from the bar cleats and the flagstaff socket to the binnacle and steering mechanism. We found signs that these fittings were nickel plated when they were first made, which would have given the deck of Cynara a “silver” motif. We opted instead to go with a polished bronze finish.

Other changes we’ve made include modern electric winches, bronze hawse pipes and modern life rafts. All in all, the deck now looks very much like it did in 1927, easily recognizable as a Camper and Nicholsons build of the time.

The Masts

It was decided early on that the masts and spars would need replacing, so these were redrawn following the original plans and data taken from the existing spars. Construction of the high-quality masts using Douglas fir was used and the work was entrusted to a team which makes finest wooden mast in the market located in Bristol U.K.

The construction method consisted of arrowhead shaped interlocking wood strips around a hollow core for minimum weight and maximum strength.

The Rigging

What remained of the original wrought iron fittings was restored. Rather than re-use the various hardware that had been replaced or altered over the years, new parts were built to a common design.  A fine balance between the advances in modern materials, the unavailability of older stock and the human resources capable of producing a fully functional “old” yacht was achieved using steel works fabricated in Spain, bronze castings produced in Italy and England, and a full complement of blocks and tackles made by traditional parts manufacturing company in Faversham, U.K.

The Sails

The choice of traditional sail makers capable of making a suit of sails to the high standard required of a restoration such as Cynara were few. The final decision by the restoration team was to go to sail loft, the original sail makers of her first suit of sails in 1926. The results have proven once more that quality and experience are what is necessary to provide a suit of sails in keeping with the restoration standards that we required.

Systems and Engineering

Obviously, it is in the many systems and engineering areas where most technological changes have taken place since Cynara’s launch in 1927. Take, for example, the original engine, which was a Kelvin C4 60 BHP gasoline-powered unit with two 95 gallon fuel tanks, one on each side in the engine room. The current engine is a Yanmar diesel. The fuel tanks are now underfloor in the main bilge, with two hot water tanks in the engine room where the fuel tanks were.

What was once a greasy engine room with a chaotic mess of pipes and cables is now clean and bright with much more space.  Also gone is the slippery, oily wooden floor, replaced with an aluminum plate surface, along with modern fire- and sound-proofing that insulates the rest of the yacht from the noisy engine room. During dismantling, we also discovered that the original lead water pipes were still in use, so those were replaced with copper alloys and toughened plastic piping.

Air conditioning units were squeezed into the available space in each cabin. We converted the original bilge vents to become air outlets so the system is invisible in most of the cabins.

All of this was done with great attention to detail, to create a clean, bright interior that offers the comfort and conveniences of the twenty-first-century while maintaining the historic look and feel of this vintage yacht.

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Restoration by RIVIERA GROUP

Restoration photos by Yoichi Yabe & RIVIERA GROUP

Text and photographs copyright © 2019
RIVIERA CO., LTD. All rights reserved.
Email : pr@riviera.co.jp