TOMITA
- VINDO 45
Tomita
was built in 1986 and, with a sail no. of 105, is probably one of the
last Vindo 45`s to be
built at Henan. She was
originally supplied to the then Vindo agent in the United Kingdom,
Tollesbury Marine, who were based on the east coast of England. As
they, also, are no longer in existence, little is known of the
original owner. However, the original name of the vessel was "Saremzy"
and remained that until 1995 when it was changed to her existing name.
She certainly spent the earlier years of her life on the South West
coast of England, particularly in Salcombe. She was sold in 1990 and
over the next few years had no less than three further owners until
1996 when we found and fell in love with her.
She had been renamed "Tomita" by the owner directly
before us, and Tomita she has stayed Although
she had been lightly used since new, she appeared to have been
somewhat neglected over the years and was in need of some care and
attention. The previous
owner before us had begun the process of restoring her and over the
last few years we have continued to spend a lot of time, hard work and
lots of money to bring her back to the condition she deserves.
She attracts admiration wherever we go, particularly in England
and France where a Vindo, and particularly a 45, is a very rare sight.
In fact, over the last 4 years we have only seen one other Vindo 45 on
our travels. This
winter we have committed what many owners may regard as sacrilege and
converted her so that all halyards and reefing lines are led back to
the cockpit. We have not
yet had the opportunity to test the new system but we are hopeful of
having a safer and more comfortable season this year. In
April, Tomita will start her summer wanderings and is looking forward
to a to a leisurely cruise down to South Brittany and we have promised
that we will go with her. Please
wave if you see us. John
McQuade |
|
Updated
2003-04-12