De Pan

This is one of those designs we don't know that much about. Part of the problem is that a number of the plans have gone missing. We do know she was built in 1940 by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company of Bristol, Rhode Island.

Here is the general arrangement plan. It's a fantastic arrangement.


The sail plan is one of the plans that has gone missing. We pulled this one from an old microfiche file we had (so it's not a great image).


We did receive an email from the current owner who said he was completely restoring the boat in Honduras. She was to be used as a daily excursion vessel for hire. He sent the following image.

This was the third Prospect of Whitby built for Arthur Slater. This I.O.R. boat was designed and built for the 1971 Admiral's Cup. She was built of aluminum by the Huisman Shipyard of Holland and then shipped to W. A. Souter & Son in Cowes, England for completion and fit out.

Here are the plans.

The client who commissioned this design was enamored with design #1961, Tarantella which he had seen in and around his home port of Genoa, Italy. He turned to the very same builder, Cantiere Carlini of Rimini, Italy for his new yacht. The arrangement is somewhat unusual but she designed as specified by her owner. She was launched in 1970

Here's the general arrangement plan.

Here's an article in Italian. Please double click for zoom.

A sister was built, named Clerici. She is quite similar but with a different layout and a ketch rig. Here's the general arrangement, which is much more conventional.

Here is the third Morning Cloud for Sir Edward Heath. She was designed for Admiral's Cup competition, built of wood by the yard of Clare Lallow of Cowes, England. She was launched in 1972. The boat deserves considerable discussion as she was lost at sea during what started out as a pretty straightforward delivery. Heath was not aboard at the time.

Here are a couple of newspaper clippings about the event. Please double click for zoom.


The best summary of the loss of Morning Cloud can be found in the very good book, Heavy Weather Sailing by Adlard Coles. Here's a reprint of appendix 6. This is posted here without permission, so thank you to the author. Again, please double click for zoom.


Here are the plans.


Here's a dramatic sketch that was published in Seahorse magazine as part of an article about the incident.