“Nelly Mathilde » is registered with The Old Gaffers Association (U.K.).

Her owner is a member of the Royal North Sea Yacht Club (Ostend) and of the Yacht Club de France (Paris).

“Nelly Mathilde” was named after the last Swedish commercial three masted barque and is an attempt to revive the past without losing the advantages of modern boat building. Jac M. Iversen, her noted Swedish/Norwegian designer, served his apprenticeship under Colin Archer.

“Nelly Mathilde” was built by Knot Aspegen at Simrishamn (South of Sweden) between 1958 and 1964, as a blue-waler cruiser with undoubted sea-keeping qualities, but a good turn of speed and sufficiently spacious for on-board living.The result was a beamy long-keeled symmetrical hull with slightly more than the traditional amount of freeboard ; a classic example of the Scandinavian blue-water cruiser.

Her hull was built by a boilermaker, who fashioned her plates by hand. Aspegren bought an entire elm tree, and her timbers and fittings were all carved from this one log. Aspegren cruised her extensively in the Baltic.

In 1972 “Nelly Mathilde » was bought by Peter Novak. He added a square rigans square sail, and took her to the Caribbean and back twice. Novak also changed her engine from the original 35 hp Volvo to the present 80 hp Ford, and lived aboard her for 13 years.

David Blackburn, ex-skipper of the Ocean Youth Club’s « Duet”, a Victorian racing yacht with a similar rig, bought « Nelly » in 1987 and lived aboard her for 6 years. His cruising grounds ranged from the Azores to Greece, and he spent a considerable amount of time in the Balearic islands.

“Nelly » changed hands in 1993, passing into the care of Rick Ganly. He took her back to the Caribbean with the 1994 ARC rally, and cruised her extensively in the West Indies. He brought the boat back to England in September/November 1995 with much of the crossing beset by heavy weather. « Nelly” then became a much loved part of the scenery in the tiny medieval port of Rye in East Sussex.

Luc Carlier, a former officier of the Belgian Navy, who since his childhood had dreamed of owning a Colin Archer boat, fell in Iove with  »Nelly Mathilde” and bought her at the end of 1996. He registered her under the Belgian flag and made her home post Ostend.

After sailing her in the North Sea he decided to head for warmer climes and entered her once again in the ARC for the 1999 crossing. After arriving safely in St Lucia he cruised the surrounding islands and wintered “Nelly” on the hard in Martinique.

Early 2000 he island-hopped to Antigua and entered “Nelly Mathilde” again in an ARC rally and sailed her back to Europe via Bermudas and Azores. For this passage his crewmembers – changing partly at each landing – were enthusiastic young men (and one girl), some preparing a career at sea, but all very motivated for blue-water sailing on an old gaffer.

Since the end of 2000, “Nelly Mathilde” has a safe mooring in Argèles-sur-mer, a nice little port on the French Mediterranean coast, a few miles from the Spanish border.

In 2003 Luc Carlier sailed his old gaffer to Corsica and visited the French Riviera on the way back. Since then not many miles were recorded in her logbook.

After over 50 years of cruising the Baltic, North Sea, Mediterranean, North Atlantic (12 crossings), « Nelly Mathilde » really required some special loving care. This operation, which started as a major refit in 2009, was carried out in the port of Argelès-sur-mer (South of France) turned out to become a true restoration which had come to an end in June 2016.

Words from Previous Owners

« She has proved to be an outstanding seaboat, vastly self-steering, balanced at all angles of heel only once did she put her railing under and this was when she was in a violent summer storm with Force 9 winds registering on shore, making 6 knots good to windward

Her best hour’s run was 9.5nm, her best day’s run 166nm. The boat is easily handled and she has been sailed mostly with just my wife and myself as crew.

For the three seasons she was sailed without an engine, in and out of crowed fishing harbours, narrow natural harbours of the Swedish Skerries and over long distances alike, never to let us down once. »

Knut Aspegren

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« Time and again she has proved her ability to withstand the worst weather and at no time has she given her owners any cause for concern. With her gleaming spars, black hull and commanding presence, she is instantly recognisable as a cruising yacht and has proved to be a superb boat for living aboard. »

Peter Novak

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« I hope by now you have had an opportunity to find out how well she sails, especially out on the ocean and in bad weather, she will take great care of you, you will be pleasantly surprised how comfortable she is. »

David Blackburn, to Luc Carlier