We have the pleasure of regular visits from yachts from other ports,history wise,some are quite special 'Blue Shadow of Mauritius' falls into that group.While she is named after an Island in the Indian Ocean her port of registration is Ipswich in England.
She is a Sparkmans and Stevens design and built by Yves Betuel in Mauritius in 1975,the yard being owned by Yves himself.Built using Burmese Teak,with a length of 13.62 mtrs,Draft 2.28mtrs,Beam 3.9mtrs and four tons of lead in her keel,her engine is a Perkins (4108?) diesel.
Yves built this boat for his own use and she was made for racing,expecting to win the Cape Town to Rio race,her young french team made the mistake of sailing into a hole in the South Atlantic High and was becalmed a few days,she was later shipped back from Rio to Mauritius and used for local races.
In 1982 Yves sold the boat to a personal friend a banker named Christian Dervichian of Belgium,Christian then sailed her to Durban in South Africa and it was on this trip the boat had to ride out a hurricane south of Madagascar,later Christian took two crew and sailed down to Cape Town.
In December of 1982 Jena Griffifs joined Christian as crew member to the Carribean via the islands of St Helena and Fernando Noronha, off the north east coast of Brasil.After the Caribbean Blue Shadow was sailed to Florida and later to New York where she was sold.
The buyer was a Mr Harry Anderson who was also the Commodore of the New York Yacht Club,he owned her for ten years racing her locally and cruising each summer up the east coast of Canada,once up to Hudson Bay is search of Andersons old whaling station,Christian Dervichian often joined Harry on this trips.
In 1993 Christian bought Blue Shadow back from Harry and then sailed her to Scotland via the Azores (riding out storm winds that went to 99 knots and off the clock)Christian then kept Blue Shadow in Scotland for two seasons before then sailing her to Norway above the Artic Circle.He later sailed her to Portugal and across the Atlantic to the US Virgins where Jena rejoined as crew in 1996.
In 1996 Blue Shadow sailed via the San Blas Islands and the Panama Cannal to Figi,calling at such places as Galapagos,Marquasas,Thahiti,Nue,Cook Islands and Tonga,she spent that seasons hurricane season in Figi while the boats crew,including Jena flew home for six months.
In 1997 Jeana Griffifhs became Blue Shadows skipper and sailed her from Figi to Brisbane via the Figi outer islands ,Vanuatu and New Caladonia,Christian later sailed her from Brisbane to Perth with other crew.
In 1998 Jean an a Peter Kaegi took over the boats ownership and sailed with Christian a their guest to Exmouth in Western Australia,then north to Thailand via Cocas Keeling west of Sumatra.In Thailand Blue Shadow was refitted for chartering and spent three seasons cruising between Malaysia and Thailand with guests aboard.
In 2002 Jena and Peter sailed from Thailand to Richards Bay in South Africa with their two year old son,via Summatra,Sri Lanka,Madives,Seychelles,Comores and Madagascar over an eleven month period.
Blue Shadow was then left in Richards Bay for two years,in January 2004 she was prepared for sailing once more,then sailed down the coast south to Simonstown and the FBYC since 2004.As far as I can tell she was then sold to a Mr Renier Fourie,then he sold to Mr Julio Graham who has the boat now,she is due to return back to her permant FBYC mooring very soon,so check this piece of sailing history out now before she does.
What was I saying about special boats!
Roy roy@comlumber.com
Dear Roy
I came across the attached by pure luck and for reasons I shall explain below, read your article with a great deal of interest.
Christian Dervichian is (was?) a very old and very dear friend. Our paths crossed in November 1979 in Mauritius, where we had both been despatched by the then owner of a fine 55 ft steel ketch, "Paille-en-Queue II", with instructions to sail her to the south of France, where she was to be sold. [Note: I last saw Christian in Geraldton, Western Australia, in 1998 - more about that later.]
By way of background, Christian & I were accompanied by Christian's wife (Lucia) and a wonderful Mauritian merchant seaman, Philippe Montocchio, who had been a member of Blue Shadow's crew on that Cape-to-Rio race to which you, correctly, refer.
Lucia & Philippe left us in Port Elizabeth and Christian & I carried on, with various crew at various times, via Cape Town, St Helena, Fernando de Noronha, the West Indies, Bermuda, the Azores, Portugal, Gibraltar, Mediterranean, etc. and ultimately to 'Les Marines de Cogolin' in the Gulf of St Tropez (October 1980), where 'Paille-en-Queue II" was delivered to a yacht broker to be sold.
I then spent some weeks with Christian & Lucia at their home in Brussels and it was there that the plan to acquire "Blue Shadow" was hatched.
Being originally from Mauritius, I had heard that Yves Betuel was comtemplating selling "Blue Shadow". By way of background, Yves used to run the shipyard at "Taylor Smith" (www.taylorsmith.com) and was also Port Captain of Port Louis in Mauritius.
By October 1980, Christian was back in Brussels, living in a small appartment with his wife, without a boat and he was bored… What's more, I was about to leave him (we had, by then, spent just over 12 months together) in order to join a yacht in Fort Lauderdale… We wrote to Yves Betuel and to cut a long story short, Christian flew to Mauritius and acquired "Blue Shadow".
Without wishing to be rude, please allow me to correct you on a couple of matters, as follows:
Designer: Although her designer may well have been influenced by S&S, she was actually designed and built by a Mauritian by the name of Noel Maurel. To the best of my knowledge, Mr Maurel was an engineer, with no qualifications (formal or otherwise) in naval architecture. "Blue Shadow" was not his first (nor his last) boat - prior to that, he had designed and built at least 4 excellent yachts, all of which, I suspect, are still plying their trade..
Yard: Blue Shadow was, actually and surprisingly, built in Mr Maurel's front yard in Grand Baie, Mauritius, with the help of local tradesmen.. It is possible (and in fact, quite likely) that much of the fit-out might have been carried out by Taylor Smith, above.
Christian & I remained in regular correspondence from 1980 until 1998 when, as you correctly point out in your article, he pitched up in Fremantle in 1998.
By then he had "gifted" (his words) his boat to a Swiss woman (I think) whom I never got to meet and whose name I cannot recall, but assume it must have been 'Jeana Griffiths' to whom you refer in your aticle. I also recall him telling me she had a South African partner, possibly the Peter Kaegi to whom you refer (?). Evidently, the deal was that he was to sail with them for as long as his health would allow and would justify his place aboard the boat by doing the cooking… An odd arrangement in my view, but then again, Christian was not your run-of-the mill character..!
I last saw Christian in July/August 1998 and have not heard a word from him since - prior to that he had been an avid and regular correspondent… My wife & I had a cup of tea with him aboard Blue Shadow in Geraldton one evening ahead of their departure for Exmouth, etc., as you point out in your article, and then nothing..
At the time, Christian was not well - he told me he had developed the early symptoms of Parkinson's and furthermore, was also suffering from a chronic back complaint, the later being the result of an accident suffered some time earlier in Fiji.
Do you happen to know whether he is still alive..?
As for "Blue Shadow", sadly, her original owner, Yves Betuel, died a couple of years ago - see attached eulogy (in French, unfortunately!). Suffice to say, however, that there are many people in Mauritius who would dearly love to know what has become of her, not the least of whom being members of that original Cape-to-Rio race.
In conclusion, therefore, any light you can shed on both Christian Dervichian and Blue Shadow would be very much appreciated.
With kind regards and best wishes
Jean-Michel Merven
Perth, Western Australia
Nous, ceux qui l’aimions, nous l’appelions « Cap ».
Et nous étions nombreux à jouir de son amitié !
L’homme était généreux, organisé, discret et d’une grande bonté !
Ses soucis – et il en avait – il les gardait pour lui.
Ses joies, il les partageait avec ceux qu’il aimait.
Égal à lui-même, il avait tout prévu jusqu’à sa dernière demeure.
A l’entrepreneur qui lésinait . . . il ne pouvait dire qu’il était pressé !
Par un beau matin de Mai, sans faire de bruit et sans donner de soucis,
Il est parti pour l’Autre Rive là où la mer est toujours calme et où il fait bon se reposer..
Blue Shadow avait quitté Grand Baie voilà bien des années.
Dessiné et construit par Noël, c’était le lieu privilégié où il accueillait ses amis.
Là où se perdaient les bouchons de whisky une fois les bouteilles débouchées !
Là encore où les amis s’embarquèrent pour participer à la course de Cape Town à Rio.
Comme dans la légende, Cap est allé reprendre la barre de son superbe voilier !
S’il semble avoir disparu à nos yeux, c’est qu’il navigue sous d’autres cieux !
Attendant. . . que son équipage vienne l’y retrouver, ce qui ne saurait trop tarder !
Sur le quai, chère Madeline, avec tes enfants et petits enfants qu’il chérissait tellement
continuez de guetter l’horizon .
Même si nous n’apercevons plus Cap et Blue Shadow, ils sont juste là de l’Autre Côté.
Un Ami de cette trempe, ça ne s’oublie pas ! Cap, tu seras toujours là.
Peut être pas physiquement. . . mais toujours bien vivant, dans nos esprits !
MERCI ! d’avoir été notre Ami celui sur qui nous pouvions compter !
Nous ne pleurerons pas mon Cap, en te voyant lever ton spi pour le Grand Voyage !
Mais, nous nous réjouirons en nous rappelant ce que Capitaine Yves Bétuel
était pour nous ! ! !
J.R.
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