| | | Dawn Lady
An Invited Friend of The Harrison Butler Association
The Bermudan Sloop built by David Hillyard in 1960
Dawn Lady : New Owner, May 2018
Each year as the sailing season draws to a close, a few absolute bargains are to be found. In December 2017, I picked Dawn Lady as an absolute steel for some canny buyer. She'd had many years of steady restorative attention, with new keel bolts, mast, rigging, engine and tanks. Her owner of the last 11 years had bought a bigger Hillyard, and was keen to not have the ongoing expenses of looking after two boats. The man who knew a bargain when he saw it was Daniel Newburg. He first fell in love with Hillyard designed and built boats a decade ago. After all that waiting, he's finally an owner and very much enjoying sailing in Dawn Lady.
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| | Dawn Lady : At Falmouth Classics 2016
Previous Owner, Alex Tullett wrote in 2017; “Prior to 1989 our understanding of Dawn Lady's history is somewhat patchy, however, in 1989 she was bought by Mr Walter Tonks who played piano played professionally in many theatres in France, as well as the conservatoire de music Rochefort. In order to practice while on board he moved the table to make room for his on board performances !
“From 1989, he and his wife did a lot of work on her over a period of 12 months and following that they cruised the Med for some time, and then returned to France and kept her there until her eventual sale in 2002. Because she was always kept in good condition she became very well known in the Charentime area, she was kept in Rochfort for about seven years, before that she was kept in La Rochelle. During that time Walter and his wife lived aboard almost full time. To Walter and his wife, Dawn Lady was quite special, she was cruised thousands of miles, creating many memories.
“Walter and his wife sold her to a person who professed to have restored wooden boats, however when she came into my hands in 2006 she was in a sorry state with a rotten mast and many poorly planks. Back in 2006 I replaced the mast, put in a new oven and sink, rewired, re plumbed and re instrumented her, had the keel bolts replaced, replaced the rudder stock and rudder, had two planks replaced by the engine bearers and chopped a rather large piece of rot out of the stem, the pig iron was also replaced with lead.
“With her having been bought back to a sailable standard I then kept her at Littlehampton for a couple of years before moving her to Shoreham, during this time she went to the Paimpol festival a couple of times and acted as the committee boat to three consecutive Police Sailing Association regattas. I then moved her to her current home, Mylor in Cornwall where she has now been for 6 years. In 2014 I undertook a 'one in fifty years' overhaul and installed a new 50hp nanni diesel, new fuel tank and water tank, new rubbing strikes and toe rails (including repairing softness in the top plank), moved the chain plates to be external, replaced the stanchions and rails, put in below deck hydraulic steering and installed new stainless engine bearers. She's been to each of the Falmouth Classics since 2010, Brest 2012 and numerous festivals in France - while not the fastest, she's reliable and a lovely boat.
Dawn Lady Statistics
Built : 1960 by David Hillyard at Littlehampton, England
LOA : 32' 0"
LWL : 28' 0"
Beam : 8' 7"
Draught : 4' 5"
Displacement : 9 tons TM
Lloyd's Register : 301748
Dawn Lady Custodians & Home Ports
Daniel Newburg (2018-2019...) Mylor, Cornwall, England
Alex Tullett (2006-2018) Mylor, Cornwall, England
Walter Tonks (1989-2002) La Rochelle, France
David Crosland (1987-1989) Bosham, Chichester, West Sussex
Mr & Mrs Norman Sidney Parr (1976-1987) Hamble River, England
Albert Lawrence Farman (1960-1976) Hamble River, England
Page last updated : July 2019
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