Restoring a Polar Star.   The most iconic Birkenhead Star Yacht.

The Polar Star with the production number RC/6 was the largest of the Racing Cutter series, it was advertised for only the year of 1933, rigged with five sails, it has the largest sail area of all the Star yachts.

This rebuild was taken over the summer of 2021.

Firstly, I am very grateful to Martin Bandey, president of The Vintage Model Yacht Group for very kindly allowed me to acquire this beautiful example of the Polar Star from him. The yacht has been restored using the same materials and techniques as it would have been made in 1933. The yacht now completely restored will be used for display purposes at BSYAS events. It is the only known complete example of the Polar Star. It is a huge yacht with a hull length of 42", a further bowsprit and boom overhang taking the overall length out to 57" and an overall height of 58". The Racing Cutters' red and white painted hull was the first use of cellulose paint at the Star factory as all previous yachts paint being painted with enamel.

Below, in the centre of the photo is an example of a five sail Racing Cutter.

 

On arrival the yacht was laid out and accessed, it was found to be surprisingly complete with original sails, mast, spars and brass fittings making restoration a bit easier, the deck had started to de-laminate in several places and that was were the restoration was to start.

Lots of photos and drawings were taken of everything in detail as there being no other example to refer to. Mast, spars and sails were carefully packed away and work started on the hull. All deck furniture was removed, labeled, bagged and boxed, unfortunately some of the screweyes because of their age snapped off but as I had some original factory stock they were to be replaced anyway. Starting at the stern, the deck was released  one side then the other and all residual deck pins removed from the hull sides.

Under the deck was a piece of ply to act as a strengthener for the bowsprit heel, mast base and cabin. The RC/6 is unusual as it has a deck feature to give the impression of a cabin, this is not on the smaller versions of the Cutter, this was carefully removed and stored.

Next was the hull paint removal which took me two full days using paint remover and lots of hand sanding back. Before anything started, I made measurements of where the paint colour divide was so that it could be accurately replaced when repainting the hull, also the position of the "POLAR STAR" bowname transfer. After paint removal, the hull was thoroughly rinsed down and left to naturally dry out for several days.

The hull was then assessed and only very small repairs were needed, mostly to the deck pin holes on the hull edging, I had decided to leave some hull indents and markings as to the history and usage of the yacht. After filling the repairs and sanding back, three coats of primer / sealer were applied and the hull was left to dry. While this was drying, I made a template of the deck and cut out a copy using 3mm Baltic pine plywood, using a jigsaw then planing back to the outline and finally a hand sanded finish. The original deck strengthener seemed to be just an off cut of ply and was a bit narrow in that some of the mast deck fittings had missed going through, so for the replacement strengthener, I took the width out to 5", more than enough for the fittings.

The paint, both white and red, had been specially mixed for me by a paint supplier to match the original shades in cellulose. The keel weight was carefully masked up and four coats of white paint was applied leaving plenty of time between the coats.

Next, the hull was was then masked up for the red paint using the reference points taken at strip down, four coats of red paint were then applied.

After drying, the masking was removed and the paint left for a couple of days to harden.

Before the new deck was fitted, it being an exact copy of the original, I drew the plank lines on and fitted the "Cabin".

Then it was a case of getting it spaced equally around the hull, applying a coat of Cascamite glue around the deck edge and pinning it down first at the bow, then allowing for the deck curvature, the stern, then from both side centres, working outwards to the bow and stern, a total of 50 pins in all, any excess glue was then wiped away. When dry, two coats of staining and two coats of yacht varnish were applied in the same way as the factory process. After leaving the varnish to dry and harden for several days, the deck furniture was cleaned before being refitted.

The original rudder was missing and a new one was made up using old photo references along with the dimensions and profile of the rear of the keel (Skeg) with the lead part being cast before being screwed to the wooden section and the swivel fixings shaped from brass wire, this was then painted red to match the main hull.

The original masts were in a good condition but the fittings were not and attempts to unscrew them were not successful so I decided to leave well alone and to keep the masts in storage for reference, making a replacement set of woodwork using imperial measurement birch dowel as per original. These were then stained, varnished and original old stock brass fittings applied. Sail templates were drawn up from the originals for a replacement suit of sails to be made from natural cambric material to the original style and stitching, being an early Star yacht having white eyelets fitted. A 1930s ten pointed Star emblem was ink printed on the mainsail. Working out the lineage for the rigging of the jib sails was a test for me with lots of sketches but I got there in the end, using original Star factory rigging cord and brass fittings supplied by Star Yacht factory owner, Frank Denye, finished off with a full set of brass bowsies and lastly with fitting a pair of remade POLAR STAR scroll bowname transfers the restoration was finished.

A stunning yacht and I'm proud to say, the "Flagship" of the BSYAS heritage fleet.

A few more photos.

Below in all it's splendor, the RC/6 POLAR STAR.

Below, the set up for the three jib sail adjuster points.

Below, the rigging for furling the top sail.

Below, the POLAR STAR bowname.

And for a Star yacht size comparison, the smallest an SY/00 alongside the largest an RC/6.

Here is Frank Denye at New Brighton boating lake August 2021 with the Polar Star.