Jonathan Syrett: “At the Hispanias we want to make a school of classic and gaff rig sail”

In 1908, the marine architect William Fife III designed by order of the king Alfonso XIII the “Hispania”, a racing sloop that has achieved great success in the international competitions of 15 meter long categories.

Around the world there were 20 boats constructed for this type of sailing competition, but only four are conserved up to this day. The “Tuiga”, acquired and restored by the YAch tClub of Monaco, the “Lady Anne” which belongs to the Botín family, the “Mariska” acquired and restored by the Swiss M. Cristian Niels and the “Hispania” property of the Real Fundación Hispania.

Jonathan Syrett, founder of the Hamilton Marine, has visited the studies of Passion for the Sea to tell us about the story of this emblematic vessel and what is the state of the current “Hispania”.

“It is probably one of the most beautiful ships of the world” assures Syrett. But other than its beauty, Hispania has stood out for conquering the seas that he sailed with speed and skill. “It is a Formula 1 but at sea. They are boats made to compete, that can be very hard, that they don’t even have a single winch and everything is done by hand” explains Syrett.

But these races were interrupted by the First World War, at this moment “Hispania” started getting passed hand by hand until the English Marina seized it in 1931.

After more than seventy years of abandonment, in 1988 “Hispania” was located stranded on the mud of the West Mersea beach, where there were also found other historical boats like “Avel2, which belong to the Gucci family. “Alan Mock and his wife lived on board like at home for 25 years, until members of what once was the Sailing Competition of Conde Almirante Barcelon bought it” remembers Syrett.

In that moment it is when it starts the project of recuperation and reconstruction of “Hispania” by, what it is called currently, the Real Fundación Hispania. “To take the boat out of the mud was a really dirty, difficult and hard job” assures the founder of Hamilton Marine.

They moved the ship to Fairlie Restorations for the reconstruction of the hull of “Hispania”, to later on return to Spain, to the Shipyards of Mallorca, to continue with the restoration of the rest of the boat. “We undertook reconstruction when we were able to raise funds. Meaning that, the boat was at Fairlie Restorations for 8 or 10 years and later another 5 years at the Shipyards of Majorca” explains Syrett.

Thanks to the aids received from the Balearic Government,  the Council of Majorca, and to the contributions of the companies like Innovamar, ASISA or PYMAR, it was possible to make the reconstruction of “Hispania” and present it to the public in 2007 during the Trophy of Almirante Conde Barcelona. “It was not finished, there were still about 300.000 euros to get it done at that moment” recognizes Syrett.

But in 2008 the crisis arrived, and the Real Fundación Hispania did not have the capacity to confront the high prices of the project. “In 2009 at the last moment we managed so that the boat was not auctioned and gave it for ten years to the Fundación Ebustina who finished the reconstruction” explains Syrett.

Once the restoration was done, “Hispania” beggins to compete and showed off again at the sailing competitions at Port Sherry, Plama, Monaco, Portofino and Saint Tropez. Until 2018, that the Fundación Ebusitana abandons the boat at the port of Sotogrande.

In June 2022, after a long legal process, the Real Fundación Hispania managed to recover “Hispania” and that is when they started with the new phase of raising money to bring it back to Mallorca and restore it.

“The ship is found at Port Sherry and the hull is in good state, it does not have water inside, everything is repairable” assures Syrett who recognizes that “until we get the boat back and have it here we will not know what to do or how much it will cost, but for sure a minimum of a million euros”.

The goal of the Real Fundación Hispania is to get sufficient money so that “Hispania” can compete again, but moreover they want to make a school with classic and gaff rig sail “that practically we have not found anything like that in the world” , states Syrett.