DAFNE

Dafne was designed and built by Albert Anderson in 1907. Dafne, whose original drawings are in the Swedish Maritime Museum, is the only surviving sailboat among the triplets built in the same way. It is said that designer Mick Newman, who restored the boat in the late 70s, was inspired by Dafne's lines at Sprint Yachts, which he later founded.

Made with Honduran mahogany plates and Swedish-made iron frames on oak, Dafne's original crest, which was faithful to Mick Newman's restoration, was designed for racing with the randa crest. Mahogany is used in the interior panels to stay true to the original. The curved sunroof of the boat is just one of the original signatures in its design.

The new Yanmar 32 hp engine and mast is Mick Newman's gift to the boat. Used by Newman and his family for 10 years, the boat won many races and received the 'best restoration' award at the Dutch Classic Yacht Regatta in 1983.

Unfortunately, Dafne was away from the sea in the 90s and it took 2005 to find water again. She was put up for sale in 2007. Until, in August 2008, the Erkurt family fell in love with Dafne, who needed a new home, and bought her. Joining the Erkurt family, the boat went through an 18-month restoration process. The sail plan and the design of the wet areas have been revised. The new sailing plan, designed so that the Erkurt family could sail safely while Sinan, the youngest of the family, was on the boat by reducing the sailing area, was drawn by naval architect and classical boat expert Nick Fairhurst.

Serkan Özgönenç saw the boat for the first time in 2010 and fell in love as soon as he saw her. After meeting Murat Erkurt, he and the Blue Note team took care of all the maintenance of the boat. Since then, they have been doing their best to keep the boat alive.

The fact that 116-year-old Dafne still maintains her performance on the first day is proof of how well they did.

(Taken from Turgay Noyan's article in Naviga.)