Lethantia

Lethantia, built as Borkumriff III in 1994, was designed by Lunstroo Custom Design for a client who wanted no compromise in her stability, seaworthiness or traditional schooner character.

Lethantia underbody has full sections, a long keel with ballast bulb and an attached rudder. Above the waterline, her fine clipper bow supports a four-metre bowsprit that
harmonises perfectly with her wineglass stern. In between she has a high bulwarked sheer line that solidifies her traditional profile while keeping her foredeck dry. And to
maintain that traditional appearance, her bulwarks have been left uncovered on the foredeck.

Lethantia is built entirely of aluminium, including her Rondal spars, but her deck fittings are custom stainless-steel replicas of traditional wood bollards and sampson posts, and she even has stainless belaying pins set in rails around her winches. Her cockpit, deckhouse, dorade boxes, skylights, companions and rails, on the other hand, are sheathed or capped in a deep-toned varnished teak to maintain her absolutely classic beauty.

The original sailplan, later changed, resembled that of a 19th-century Gloucester schooner, with two jibs on the sprit, club-footed staysail, gaff foresail, foretopsail and Marconi mainsail. Her sails are handled, however, by modern hydraulic operated furlers, drum and reel winches.
Later in her career Lethantia received an update of her onboard electric systems as well as a modified sailplan, which provided a full roached foresail. This revision added sail area whilst taking the weight of the gaff away.

Lethantia, in fact, has 41 winches to master her nearly 1,000 m2 of sail. Her sails are cut in classic narrow panels, out with modern radial tapes along the feet to assure smooth furling, and the cream Dacron cloth has the golden sheen of natural Egyptian cotton, in keeping with her style.

Belowdecks, Lethantia presents a most extraordinarily warm, inviting ambiance, created by John Munford. The conception features an efficient layout to encourage private comfort and entertainment, under way or in harbour. Reserved cherry panelling, white-painted and wood-beamed overheads, elegant built-in furniture, fine leather and patterned upholstery, impeccable brass fixtures and lots of cupboards, cabinets, bookshelves and drawers make her extremely livable below, from her bright deckkouse to her inviting owners' suite and guest staterooms.

With all her aesthetic appeal, by contrast Lethantia engine room is a line technical creation in its own right. Occupying the full hull width beneath the deckhouse, the engine room is spacious, bright and systematically organized for maximum maintenance efficiency. It is proof of what good things can be accomplished within a full-bodied classic hull built in the age of computers, and it is wholly isolated from the accommodations for quiet life aboard. Lethantia is a credibly powerful yacht, a particularly robust experience. When you sail her in a breeze you can appreciate why yesterday"s schoonermen rarely stayed at home, and never feared the falling of the glass.