Category Archives: G.L. Watson clients

Britannia – a rather special yacht

Posted on April 20, 2015 by Peggy Bawn Press

Probably G.L. Watson’s most famous and successful design, the cutter yacht Britannia was launched 20 April 1893 at D.&W. Henderson’s Meadowside Shipyard, Partick, Glasgow. It’s where the River Kelvin meets the River Clyde, opposite the present day Riverside Museum. She … Continue reading →

Posted in America's Cup, Big Class, boatbuilders, Britannia, Clyde yachting, Clydebuilt, G.L. Watson, G.L. Watson clients, Glasgow, object of desire, other yacht designers, ship launch, shipbuilding, shipyards, yacht design, yachting history | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Weekend Watson – Camilla

Posted on November 22, 2014 by Peggy Bawn Press

The sweet, varnished gaff cutter Camilla is one of a very special group of surviving yachts designed during the all too short lifetime of Glasgow naval architect and yacht designer, G.L. Watson (1851-1904). The business carrying his name continued – … Continue reading →

Posted in boatbuilders, boatyards, Clyde yachting, Clydebuilt, Firth of Clyde, G.L. Watson, G.L. Watson & Co., G.L. Watson clients, gift, Glasgow, naval architect, object of desire, other yacht designers, The Weekend Watson, Uncategorized, yacht clubs, yacht design, yacht designer, yacht racing, yachting history | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The schooner Rainbow: “Design, copyright and exhibition”

Posted on October 23, 2014 by Peggy Bawn Press

An inherited fortune from the Turkey Red textile dyeing and printing industry of the Vale of Leven, Scotland, paid for 37-year-old Charles Orr Ewing’s magnificent G.L. Watson-designed schooner Rainbow, launched at Partick, Glasgow in 1898 – and now being replicated … Continue reading →

Posted in art, Baltic Germany, Big Class, book, Clyde yachting, Clydebuilt, Firth of Clyde, G.L. Watson, G.L. Watson & Co., G.L. Watson clients, gift, Glasgow, object of desire, photography, replica, River Clyde, shipbuilding, shipyards, Uncategorized, yacht design, yacht designer, yacht racing, yachting history | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Float your boat

Posted on September 4, 2014 by Peggy Bawn Press

Martin Black’s biography of Scottish yacht designer G.L. Watson pays homage to the side of his work that, reading between the lines, he found most worthwhile: improving the design of rescue lifeboats.* Both the design of lifeboats and their deployment … Continue reading →

Posted in film, G.L. Watson, G.L. Watson & Co., G.L. Watson clients, Lifeboat, Martin Black, object of desire, RNLI, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Gordon Bennett!

Posted on August 28, 2014 by Peggy Bawn Press

The G.L. Watson designed and tank-tested twin-screw turbine steam yacht Lysistrata was launched by William Denny & Brothers, Dumbarton, Scotland, on this day in 1900. Such was the attention to detail demanded by her remarkable interior – festooned with evidence … Continue reading →

Posted in Clydebuilt, G.L. Watson, G.L. Watson & Co., G.L. Watson clients, object of desire, shipbuilding, shipyards, Steam Yacht, tank testing, yacht design, yacht designer | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Wind of fortune

Posted on June 27, 2014 by Peggy Bawn Press

  Snippets of news slipping out online more than strongly suggest that one of the most exciting of classic yacht replica projects is well underway: a reincarnation of G.L. Watson’s design for the fabulous and fast schooner Rainbow, later Hamburg, … Continue reading →

Posted in archives, Baltic Germany, Big Class, boatbuilders, boatyards, Captains, Clyde yachting, Clydebuilt, film, Firth of Clyde, G.L. Watson, G.L. Watson & Co., G.L. Watson & Co. Ltd., G.L. Watson clients, gift, Glasgow, leather-bound, Martin Black, naval architect, object of desire, other yacht designers, photography, replica, River Clyde, sailmakers, shipbuilding, shipyards, yacht design, yacht designer, yacht racing, yachting history | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

All mod cons: the steam yacht Hermione, 1891

Posted on June 22, 2014 by Peggy Bawn Press

When the elegant G.L. Watson-designed steam yacht Hermione arrived at the Newfoundland port of St. John’s on 2 July 1895 on passage from Gourock, Firth of Clyde, to New York, she naturally turned heads. The seafaring citizens of such a … Continue reading →

Posted in America's Cup, Clydebuilt, G.L. Watson, G.L. Watson & Co., G.L. Watson clients, gift, leather-bound, Martin Black, naval architect, object of desire, other yacht designers, replica, River Clyde, shipbuilding, shipyards, Steam Yacht, The Weekend Watson, yacht clubs, yacht design, yacht designer, yacht racing, yachting history | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The first match racers?

Posted on June 5, 2014 by Peggy Bawn Press

As Women’s Match Racing World Championship competitors prepare for a second lovely Cork Harbour sailing day at the Royal Cork (the world’s oldest yacht club), meet Gipsy and Brunette of 1893. G.L. Watson designed them specifically for racing against each … Continue reading →

Posted in America's Cup, book, Clyde yachting, Clydebuilt, Firth of Clyde, G.L. Watson, G.L. Watson clients, gift, Glasgow, Irish yachting, Martin Black, naval architect, object of desire, replica, The Weekend Watson, yacht clubs, yacht design, yacht designer, yacht racing, yachting history | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Scotia’s “Thistle”

Posted on April 19, 2014 by Peggy Bawn Press

Inevitably, a 127 year-old challenge from Glasgow, Scotland to New York, USA for yachting’s Holy Grail, the America’s Cup, has left lingering family memories and mementoes. It was a big deal, as it would be now, and is still within … Continue reading →

Posted in America's Cup, archives, Baltic Germany, Big Class, book, Captains, Clyde yachting, Clydebuilt, G.L. Watson, G.L. Watson clients, gift, Glasgow, Martin Black, object of desire, photography, yacht design, yacht designer, yacht racing, yachting history | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A sporting combination

Posted on March 3, 2014 by Peggy Bawn Press

Summer 1893. Paisley ‘thread baron’ Stewart Clark’s rakish c.200ft G.L. Watson designed steam yacht, Vanduara, poses with engines stopped. Clearly seen hanging in her starboard quarter davits is no ordinary ship’s boat. She is Clark’s son, J. Stewart’s extreme fin-and-bulb … Continue reading →

Posted in boatbuilders, boatyards, Clyde yachting, Clydebuilt, Firth of Clyde, G.L. Watson, G.L. Watson & Co., G.L. Watson clients, gift, Martin Black, naval architect, object of desire, other yacht designers, shipbuilding, shipyards, Steam Yacht, Uncategorized, yacht design, yacht designer, yachting history | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments