Visit our Popular Forums

Harry-AU · 23-01-2021, 13:50

Hi
I wonder if anyone know or heard of boat designer Jean Vignes. I am trying to find reviews and information on his designed boat (I found only one boat). Google does not show of any record of this name either. Therefore I am asking in the forum. Thanks in advance.
(Also posted in monohull forum as well incase anyone from this forum knows some information)

Chimere53 · 04-10-2022, 15:10

Hi Harry,
I understand Jean Vignes designed my yacht Chimere, apparently based on a MacLear Harris design from the 1960s I currently have my yacht for sale here ... https://yachthub.com/list/yachts-for...-cutter/278141

I'd be keen to hear from you if you found anything out about him

Cheers

Rob
highseas53@gmail.com

**skipperpete** · 04-10-2022, 15:42

I sailed on a boat called Chimere many years ago and knew the builder quite well. He was a Basque and built the boat in Sydney at his home/ factory near to Akuna bay. His name was Jean Vignes but more of a boat builder than a designer.... and a very aggressive and competent sailor....and one of the speediest boat builders I’ve met. His sons and wife all worked on that project....... assuming its the same Chimere.
Pete.

Chimere53 · 04-10-2022, 15:56

That's fascinating Pete. Was it a 53 foot canoe stern steel boat? This one ... ??
https://yachthub.com/list/yachts-for...-cutter/278141

I've owned her 16 years, and before me it was owed by a couple in WA. I've always wanted to know more about her background. She is a dead ringer for a larger yacht called Angantyr ... https://www.denisonyachtsales.com/ya...fornia/6555940

Can you tell me any more? We understand our boat was built by "Barrenjoey Yachts", maybe that was just a name that Jean Vignes used because of the location?

**skipperpete** · 04-10-2022, 16:15

Yes, that was what he called his little Basque village and huge shed in Sydney. I was there at the arrival in our marina after the initial launch and he was a daily attraction, really great guy. Initially it had a lovely MWM engine and it had a hydrolock in its first week afloat because of a bad siphon break but we managed to resuscitate it and later sailed amongst the spectator fleet at the start of a very breezySyd/ Hobart race with a group of Basque chefs as crew. not sailors at all... an experience so exciting I’ve never fully recovered from it (but the food was fantastic)
I met the boat in later years... I think in Indonesia... and she was showing signs of age and needed a good welder for some deck plating.
Pete.

Chimere53 · 04-10-2022, 16:23

What year would that have been Pete? Do you know what design Jean used ?

**skipperpete** · 04-10-2022, 17:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chimere53

What year would that have been Pete? Do you know what design Jean used ?

I’ll have a browse through old photos to try and get a date. I remember him working on Eric Tabarly’s yacht making titanium mast fittings for one of the numerous round the world races but its all a long time ago, actually at the start of my yachting phase after becoming a marine engineer and discovering that marriages and long sea voyage absences are a bad combination.

Chimere53 · 04-10-2022, 23:54

Hi Pete,
would greatly appreciate any info and photos you might be able to find.
so is it true that a man goes sailing with his second wife ...?!
Rob

**skipperpete** · 06-10-2022, 16:51

I looked for photos without success, it was in the pre digital era and I lost all the unscanned photos in the Aceh tsunami (my boat sank)..... HOWEVER, Jean built the hull around the time of Australia’s first America’s cup win...... we had a huge party on the marina and I learned that Champagne and Underberg are not compatible.
The interior was “ in progress” at the marina but it definitely looks like the same yacht, I well remember that cockpit during the spectacularly lumpy return to Broken bay...... littered with very soggy and unhappy French landsmen and miles of mainsheet underfoot. We gybed off Barrenjoey in 30 knots all standing as I tried frantically to shorten the mainsheet to avoid launching the crew. I’m pretty sure this was the first sail outside protected waters and we all survived to party again. I was curious about the position of the mast, it seemed a long way forward compared to similar sized yachts in our marina but she certainly sailed well.
I noticed in your photos that the MWM diesel has been replaced, she needed an exceptionally well thought out Vent loop with the engine so low in the hull and after the first cylinder flooding I had reservations about the MWM’s longevity.
She looks way better in your photos than when she was launched, you’ve done an excellent refit ... Beautiful !
Pete.

Chimere53 · 06-10-2022, 20:19

Thanks for your followup Pete, really appreciate it. Sorry to hear about your boat sinking in Aceh. That must have been a dreadful time. On so many levels! We have had a wonderful time with Chimere. Done some great and useful things No idea about what design Jean used? Cheers Rob

**skipperpete** · 07-10-2022, 00:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chimere53

Thanks for your followup Pete, really appreciate it. Sorry to hear about your boat sinking in Aceh. That must have been a dreadful time. On so many levels! We have had a wonderful time with Chimere. Done some great and useful things No idea about what design Jean used? Cheers Rob

I believe you’re right about Chimere being a Maclear Harris design, I’m almost certain he mentioned that name ...but I distinctly recall that he mentioned modifying the original design but whether that meant changing the accommodation plan for charter or maybe raising the flush deck a couple of inches for more headroom I have no idea...... but I,m pretty sure he wouldn’t have changed the original lines. Jean’s accent was hard to understand and he spoke with the same speed as he worked.... flat out!
Pete.

Chimere53 · 07-10-2022, 01:26

Hi Pete,
that all starts to make sense. would you know if any of Jean's family would still be floating around. There only seem to be four people with that surname in the book, and I called one, based in Sydney, and she had no idea what I was talking about
Thanks again for your recollections

**skipperpete** · 07-10-2022, 02:19

I remembered that one of his sons was a serious mountain bike racer at the time. If I remember anything significant, I’ll PM you. I still have some good yarns about Jean and his sons on the Marina at Akuna bay.