History
In 1936 Yachting Monthly launched a competition for the best design for a 30' waterline boat for a couple - a man and a woman - with no professional sailors, but room for 2 friends. The boat must be able to be sailed as a couple, but also have a good chance in regattas with a crew. 29 designs are submitted. Among them, many were inspired by OENONE and Amokura, both Shepherd's latest successful creations: the stern, the rig, the doghouse and cabin, and the interior layout are reminiscent of the great Fredrick's last designs.
The judges for that competition were Harrison Butler and Laurent Giles. The editor of the magazine was Maurice Griffith.
Yachting World in the same year published an editorial on OENONE.
Her little sister is Lively Lady, the famous boat with which Sir Alec Rose sailed around the world in the 1960s. Her big sister is Amokura and, on her lines, Glaramara is also a very similar boat.
In the summer of 1938 OENONE participated in several regattas in the Solent (Yachting World).
In the following years we find the boat again across the ocean.
From 1947 to 1953 she was registered in the Lloyds Register, owned by Jean Combescot and based in Buenos Aires. In 1954, owned by Eric Coupey, OENONE is in New York where she is still registered in 1960, but her home port is Naples and her owner is James C. Ray, as reported by American Lloyds.
In 1963 the boat under the name Union was owned by the engineer Roberto Garolla di Bard, a great sportsman, sailor, rower and former president of the Circolo del Remo e della Vela of Naples. Union remained in the Garolla family until 1968 and Marcello Garolla di Bard, Roberto's son, edited a delightful video reconstructed from Super8 footage and donated the boat 50 years later.
In 1968, Union belonged to Emilio Fede, a RAI journalist at the time, and its home port was Anzio. Since 1972, traces of this yacht disappear from Lloyds Registers.
Since 1977 the boat has been in Sicily. The owner is Giuseppe Filippone, an avid sailor. In the 1980s Union made a brief entry into the newly-born world of classic boat racing and proved to be fast.
In good condition until 1985, she was registered with the AIVE at the time. The hull has pitch pine planking and English white oak frames. The actual mast was built in 1989 by Cantieri Sangermani on Fredrik Shepherd's original plans. The Honduras mahogany interior and bronze fittings are largely original. From the late 1980s onwards, she began a gradual decline that led to her abandonment on a concrete yard in Palermo in 1998.
After its participation in the first gathering organised in Viareggio by the VSV in 2005, OENONE entered the Del Carlo yard for her "restoration of the century". Her elegant interior and furniture, original as well as the deckhouse and skylight, were carefully restored. The over-worn deck has been replaced as well as parts of 20 frames. The floors are new and strong and the planking is now solidly bolted with bronze hardware to the frames. Engine, rig and rigging are new.
Finally, in the summer of 2013 OENONE took to the sea for a short test cruise and participation in the 9th meeting of historical boats, Vele Storiche Viareggio. The following year the new sails arrived.
In 2014 she received the AIVE award for the best restoration in Italy.
The latin motto Festina Lente ( hurry up slowly )and the sailing turtle found as a logo on OENONE's blocks are perfectly suited to the long period of its meticulous restoration.
Restoration history of OENONE https://www.zacboats.it/yacht-restoration/oenone-4