Princess Yachts has restored of one of its original models, Project31, to mark its 50th anniversary As part of the project, Princess gathered a group of craftsmen who worked on the first model and welcomed them back to the yard to restore the 1968 boat.
The video below shows Project31@50 in progress, with some of the Princess Yachts team explaining what makes this such a special restoration project:
The yacht was the first made in 1965 and more than 150 were produced and sold between 1966 and 1969 by the British builder.
Project31@50 has undergone a complete restoration from the keel up. As well as restoring the engines, electrics and refurbishing the hull of Project31@50, she has also been fitted with a retro interior in keeping with her heritage.
“The vision is that she should be fun, but a sophisticated fun, explained Sarah Vervey, director of creative design. “So we have used vibrant colours to enhance that fun feeling of the 1960s”.
Princess co-founder David King and a number of retired employees have shared their expertise to help restore Project31@50. Carpenter Ally Hunter, who has worked for Princess for more than four decades, said: "I first started on these boats about 41 years ago so to come around full circle and work on it again is a good experience and nice to go back to the old fashioned ways."
Managing director of Princess Yachts Chris Gates hopes that the project demonstrates the journey the yard has been on over the past 50 years.
“Project31@50 is fundamentally a celebration of everything we have achieved at Princess and to showcase to the world where we started and where are to today and that we will continue this fantastic evolution of a wonderful business,” he said.
In a further celebration to mark the occasion Princess Yachts and Thomas Pink teamed up to create a 50th anniversary collection.