Crafting Elegance: the Golden Age of Scottish Yacht Design

In collaboration with two prestigious archive collections, the Scottish Maritime Museum celebrates the three remarkable yacht building dynasties which led Scotland’s golden age of sailing in Crafting Elegance: the Golden Age of Scottish Yacht Design.

Drawing on rare artefacts, original drawings and intricate models from the Mylne Archive and the G.L. Watson Archive, which is held by Scottish Yachting Archives, the exhibition brings to life the extraordinary designs of George Lennox Watson, Alfred Mylne I and II and William Fife I, II and III.

The exhibition, which also features exhibits and historic vessels from the Museum’s own collection, explores how these pioneering designers combined traditional shipbuilding techniques with ground-breaking innovation to push the boundaries of yacht design in the late 19th to mid 20th centuries. Their designs included racing yachts competing in the legendary America’s Cup to luxury vessels commissioned by European royalty and high society.

Visitors can also view two yachts built by William Fife III – 1884 Vagrant and 1900 Powerful.