Director of the Board at the Maritime Museum of BC, and former Dorothy owner Angus Matthews spoke with Gregor Craigie for On the Island recently. Have a listen at the link!
The 1897 built-in-Victoria sailing vessel Dorothy has been refit, and will take part in the Royal Victoria Yacht Club’s Opening Day on 27 April. This event is not open to the public, but Dorothy will be touring these coastal waters all summer long.
Dorothy, held in the Collection of the Maritime Museum of BC, is the only remaining vessel from the original Victoria Yacht Club fleet.
She will lead the wooden boat division during the Royal Victoria Yacht Club festivities. Built in Victoria in 1897, before King George V granted the prefix Royal to the Victoria Yacht Club, Dorothy was commissioned by founding VYC member and subsequent club Commodore W.H. Langley. Today, she flies a replica Victoria Yacht Club burgee, after her meticulously researched mid-life refit.
The provenance associated with Dorothy is quite extraordinary. She is believed to be the oldest Canadian sailboat still sailing. Her hull and spars are largely original, and the museum’s collection holds correspondence related to her build (including invoices), dozens of photos, logbooks written in Langley’s hand, and several trophies she won at VYC events as early as 1899. This appearance at the RVYC will kick-off Dorothy’s 2024 Comeback Tour of the Salish Sea. Throughout the summer, she will be appearing at maritime events and festivals, with a special focus on getting young CanSail 1 & 2 sailors on the tiller of a gaff-rigged vessel built in the century before the last century – when the Wright brothers were only building bicycles.
