NIÑITA

If you want to build a new, traditional, easily-handled by a couple, performance schooner yacht of around 60 feet, and feel like doing something just a little bit different instead of another Alden Malabar, what better model to replicate than the W. Starling Burgess-designed staysail schooner NIÑA, once described by Olin Stephens as, “the only boat he knew of that looked good from any angle”, and surely among the top ten most iconic yachts of all time... The original NIÑA was designed to fit the handicap rule in force for the 1928 Queen of Spain Cup race from New York to Santander; fortuitously, Burgess’s take on that rule allowed a yacht that would not only perform under it, and perform period - and in the days when sea-kindliness still prevailed - but also with a very easily handled rig, even by a couple. NIÑITA’s owners wanted such a yacht, and, using the original hull lines and rig drawings provided by Mystic Seaport Museum, had her built of strip plank Douglas fir/ epoxy by one of the great schooner builders of the modern age, well experienced with this immensely strong build method. Since launching in 2004, NIÑITA has been in almost constant commission as a very able eastern north Atlantic cruiser and exceptionally comfortable floating home, with a Baltic cruise north of the Arctic Circle and many classic rallies and regatta wins - still just two-up - also included in her impressive sailing programme. NIÑITA is a striking, strong and well proven blue water cruiser with an amazing pedigree.