The 140 foot Frers designed ketch, Rebecca, lying here in Falmouth, has to be one of the prettiest mega-yachts afloat. She has a unique look combining “traditional” deck houses with a modern bow and old time stern. Normally, alamalgams like this do not turn out. But she is stunning, and the low freeboard helps to pull it together.

The last time we saw this yacht was in Bermuda, in 2002. We ran into Paul, the skipper, clearing customs, and as we were both headed to Newport, Rhode Island, and informal race was arranged between Beowulf and Rebecca. Paul asked how much time allowance we wanted.

We were fresh from breaking Mari Cha lll’s Guadeloupe to Antigua record and feeling pretty pumped, so we asked for six hours. Paul thought we were being cocky – we thought the case of beer in play was already drinkable.

Now Beowulf looked like a toy next to Rebecca as we both hoisted sail outside the harbor. It was definitely a David and Goliath scenario, but then we were used to that and had our 78 foot slingshot ready for a quick cruise. It was two dottering grandparents against Paul and his  gang of ten professionals. Of course we had the advantage of a nice big pilot house and a bathtub (which would see its usual bubble baths on passage).

You can read the details of the “race” starting here, if they are of interest. In the meantime we’ll leave you with a few photos of this remarkable yacht.