The latter quarter of 2022, offered an opportunity for Stayinphase to work in an alternate sector of yachting. Williams details his part in the restoration of a historical Sloop.

A complex mix of historical research, detective work, problem solving, restoration and precision engineering, this is his work on Blitzen, an original 1930s Bermudan Sloop, now based in Palma whose owner contacted Stayinphase to replace and upgrade the boat’s winch system.

The boat had evidently already been through numerous refits.

Photographic research and looking into the archives was inconclusive

Grainy Images Circa 1939, A prominent sailplan with large overlapping headsail. Blitzen in her original configuration upwind.

The first complication was that the boat had evidently already been through numerous refits and replacements. Designed by Olin J Stephens and constructed at the Henry B Nevins Yard in New York in 1938, the 16.97m craft had at different times run on one winch, then two, then one again. Photographic research was partially inconclusive, but suggested various pedestal-driven winches had been installed at different positions (and with different levels of workmanship) since original owner RJ Reynolds had won Blitzen’s class in the Newport-Bermuda Race in her first season. The boat also won the 2,000-mile San Francisco-Honolulu Race in 1939, plus the offshore between Florida and Havana, before heading to Europe to finish third in the Fastnet.

Although quite possibly sourced from an old America’s Cup Classic Yacht, these twin ‘coffee grinders’ just didn’t belong to Blitzen…
Returned to former glory: relaunched in 2016, the yacht awaits her rig.
Years of wear and tear revealed inside the original Blitzen winch.

You could see decades of wear, like the rings of a tree

While this and numerous other trophies gave Blitzen historical value and solid racing credentials in its day, the current owners wanted the boat bringing back to life as a top class classic yacht. The replacement of its winch with a newly designed bespoke model turned into a project that Williams describes as ‘A collision of old and new… the mechanics are everything that we’ve learned in the last ten years of working on racing boats,’ he explains.

The mechanics are everything we’ve learned in the last ten years

Some typical attention to detail. ‘Form & function’ is truly the design brief on the Blitzen Project.

A single task involves the most precise calibration of parts.

With the removal of the existing winch, the challenge for Stayinphase began: ‘You could see decades of influence and wear, it was like the rings of a tree.’ This obviously presented a different challenge to the world Williams comes from, of state-of-the-art America’s Cup-level racing yachts, but the solutions – the meticulous engineering processes and exhaustive attention to detail found at Stayinphase’s headquarters – were the same. A single task can involve the most precise calibration of parts, and the heaviest stress-testing. At the Stayinphase workshops are everything from a sealed room run for 24 hours at a continuously stable temperature to ensure consistency in the micromeasurement of parts, to vast lengths of steel chains and weight plates for testing the stress and tension of load bearing parts. For the restoration of Blitzen, all of this ingenuity would be called on.

For the restoration of Blitzen, all of this ingenuity would be called on

Care, attention… And measurement! CMM inspection.

The flawless moulded base contrasts with the original forged handles, which have been retained and incorporated into the new design. While not a straight retro design, Stayinphase have instead created a piece that performs to the most demanding modern limits but with subtle nods to the yacht’s original era. ‘The owner didn’t want something that was radically different, or attracted attention to itself. So we considered styling influences from locomotives of the Streamliner period, all the way through to design details on the Chrysler building. This is evident in the “claws”, which support the bottom of the structure here, almost like bird talons. They’re reminiscent of that period, as is the styling on the head and baseplate of the pedestal.’

After rigorous final testing and assembly, the winch was transported to Blitzen at the end of the year.  Installed by Stayinphase to the original 1930s winch location, all that remains is for the final parts of the restoration to be completed. ‘From their sailing perspective, the analogy is that it’s going to be like taking an old three speed bicycle from 50 years ago, and then jumping on a modern bike with 21 speeds,’ he says. ‘Absolutely, the change is going to be as pronounced as that.’

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