Gay Vandra

An Invited Friend of The Harrison Butler Association
Built by David Hillyard in 1961

Photograph courtesy Emily Riddell
© 2016 Latitude 38 Publishing, LLC

Gay Vandra : Remembering the 1970s
Emily and Stuart Riddell from California were visiting family in England in 1969 when they came across Gay Vandra. They bought her and then sailed her through the canals and rivers of France, emerging in the Mediterranean, near Marseilles, having passed through 250 locks. They settled in Piraeus, an island off Greece, and remained there four years and ran their boat as a charter whilst living on it. For two years, the kids attended a school run by the British Embassy on the mainland but then they spent two winters in a yacht harbour in Malta where Emily home-schooled the children. They then sold Gay Vandra and returned to the States.
A Greek Sighting, 2017
The Hillyard Owner's Association website has a few recent pictures of Gay Vandra, taken in Methena, Greece. It was reported that she appeared to be in commission and had some signs of recent restoration. One of the photographs is reproduced below.

Photograph by Tom Walsh

Gay Vandra Statistics
Built : 1961 by David Hillyard at Littlehampton, England
LOA : 43' 0"
LWL : 40' 0"
Beam : 11' 6"
Draught : 6' 0"
Displacement : 20 tons TM
Lloyd's Register : N° 303032

Gay Vandra Custodians & Home Ports 
Mr & Mrs MJ Ratcliffe (1976-1980-?) Malta, Mediterranean
Stuart E Riddell (1971-1976) Hamble, England
Peter W Allsebrook (1966-1970) Southampton, England
BJH Nicholes (?-1963-1965) Littlehampton, England

Emily and Stuard Riddell, who owned and cruised
Gay Vandra in the Mediterranean in the 1970s

Gay Vandra Links
• Gay Vandra in Latitude 38, November 2016

Page last updated : October 2017

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