Damien II (Yacht)

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john sefton
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Joined: Sun Mar 22, 2009 1:59 pm

Damien II (Yacht)

Post by john sefton » Thu Dec 08, 2011 4:26 pm

Although described as yachts the three vessels depicted on the South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands issue of November 1995 are far from the general idea of a yacht

DAMIEN II. This steel hulled schooner with an 86hp engine was built in France in 1975 and was used for many years to carry out research into sea bird breeding distribution in the Antarctic by Jerome and Sally Poucet. In 1985/6 she was chartered by the British Antarctic Survey to carry out work with elephant seals along the S Georgia coastline

Peter Bolton Log Book September 1996
South Georgia and Sand Is SG258
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FrenchShips
Posts: 70
Joined: Wed Apr 01, 2009 4:31 pm

Re: Damien II (Yacht)

Post by FrenchShips » Fri Dec 09, 2011 9:09 pm

Hull length: 14.14 m then lengthened of 1m)
breadth: 4,40m
Displacement: 15 t
draught: from 3.08 m keel low) to 0.90m keel up)
ballast of lead: 5 t
max. sail area: 124 m² Moteur: 80 cv
Design Michel Joubert (1974). Steel hull built in META yards (Tarare) and Eloy LLORENTE yards (Le Rove).

Source: http://www.janichon-damien.com/autres%20bateaux.htm
Note: Gérard Janichon is a round-the-world French sailor, famous for a set of books "Damien" as was named his ship

Jean-Louis
http://www.philateliemarine.fr/

aukepalmhof
Posts: 7771
Joined: Thu Apr 02, 2009 1:28 am

Re: Damien II (Yacht)

Post by aukepalmhof » Sun Apr 09, 2023 9:22 pm

Design: Michel Joubert
Jérôme Poncet commissioned DAMIEN II in 1974, having already sailed below the Antarctic Circle and around the world. He, his wife Sally, and his family lived aboard DAMIEN II for 12 years, exploring everywhere from Europe to Brazil, Polynesia, Tasmania, and New Zealand, as well as the sub-Antarctic islands, becoming the first yacht to winter in Antarctica in 1978-79.
“For me, it is, without doubt, the DAMIEN, a 15-meter steel-hulled, lifting keel schooner that has been the major influence for opening up high latitude sailing for generations that followed,” comments Skip Novak.
“Jérôme and Sally Poncet commissioned the Michel Joubert design and for the next 25 years routinely sailed in the far south on the Antarctic Peninsula, to the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia and around the Falkland Islands.

“A few boats had dipped in far south around the same time – David Lewis on ICEBIRD comes to mind, as does Bill Tilman years before on his Bristol Channel Pilot Cutters – but they were very much one-off voyages by vessels ill-suited to the region. It was the Damien II that created a design type that was found to be a useful tool for remote cruising in cold, sometimes ice-bound, conditions.
“This meant a robust steel hull, a lifting ballast keel to the beach or access shallow water to avoid ice, the unmistakable French camber on the otherwise flush deck, and the plexiglass bubble with a 360-degree view for inside piloting. The interior was cozy enough to raise three children aboard: son Dion was born on the saloon table in winter, in South Georgia. Otherwise, systems were basic for ultimate reliability.
“This design, and not least of all what the Poncet’s achieved in pioneering voyages which included science surveys and supporting some of the best known BBC wildlife extravaganzas like Life in the Freezer, encouraged others to follow in various fashions.
“Thirty Damien hulls have been built along the same lines.

(I found a photo taken in 2017 on the Internet of mostly a wreck of the DAMIEN II in Beaver Islands, Falkland Islands where the Fam. Poncet were running a sheep farm, she is a two-mast yacht. One of the sons has taken over the business and is a well-known yachtsman on the Falklands.)

https://www.yachtingworld.com/extraordi ... ailing-999
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