AMELIA - Ed Burnett 58 ft Schooner 2007

The opportunity to follow through - from sketches (perhaps grounded in childhood), to drawings, to reality - the design of that somehow most romantic of pleasure vessels, a traditionally inspired schooner yacht, must have been a great thrill for her designer, working with a commissioning owner up for some adventure. The idea was to carry her owning family to warmer waters in some style, without fuss and anxiety. Despite what Ed Burnett might have said below, perhaps when pressed about influences, AMELIA's hull design is clearly a gentle evolution from the highly successful late 1990s 30 ft ZINNIA design created in partnership with Nigel Irens: a very good idea indeed. Great attention would, of course, have been applied to the special requirements of a schooner's sail area distribution - to get the 'drag' in the keel profile just right. But in many ways, she's simply a double size ZINNIA, which means that she feels much bigger than she is, sails like a dream, and rewards great pride in ownership. AMELIA has now ticked all the boxes for two owners. The first did indeed sail her down the Portuguese Trades to the warm waters of the Mediterranean where she was lightly used there until entering present ownership in 2010 when her home port moved north to Belgium. In current ownership, through much experience by use, AMELIA's rig has been gradually and relatively subtly modernised/ optimsed for both performance and ease of short-handed sailing by a couple. While down below her accommodation has been delightfully transformed from New England style simplicity to the feel of a cosy Edwardian gentleman's club. One can imagine spending a lot of time down there while reeling off the sea miles with aplomb.