Letter from Brian and Sylvia (former owners) 11.08.2007:

Hello again Arne,

I have enjoyed your pictures up to 08/07 on your site. I am not at all surprised that the skipper is 'glad'; he has achieved a first class refit of a traditional boat and has a very beautiful sailing area to enjoy.

I really admire your efforts and I am sure that the Hillyard Association will welcome you as a member and want to know the latest news.

Did you get the only information I could find on the Taylor cabin heater. You seem not to have been given the very thick file of data for all the equipment that I installed plus some drawings of the rig I got from Hillyard in 1981. The file was with the boat in 1996 when she was sold.

I tryed to get the Vittek website (with the Wilhelmshaven picture) but it is no longer there. I also found the name Vittek in one of my notebooks for 1996, so he must have been the man who bought the boat from us; and apart from fitting a radar seems to have neglected it ever since. I do not have any address.

You have done much more work on her than I did, but she was in very nice condition when we sold. The only thing the surveyor could fault was a suspect deck leak in way of the main mast step.

For the record, and in rough time sequence I did the following: convert from sloop to ketch, fit new heads (toilet) fwd (I used to teach on board as a RYA YM Instructor and we kept the cabin aft as 'ours'), fit echo sounder and log, move helm from aft cockpit bulkhead to fwd, install Thornicroft, renew rotten planks in way of engine exhaust, fit Tayor heater, fit new cooker and fridge, build wheelhouse, x-ray keel bolts (about 1990, kept in the file), replace original galvanised pipe handrail with stainless steel, etc, etc

Anything I may be able to tell you, please ask.

We look forward to seeing more records of your adventures in the log.

All the best and good sailing

Brian

The Hillyard Owners Association (HOA) founded in 1977, is an active and growing Association of Hillyard yacht owners, former owners, and prospective owners; currently with around 200 enthusiastic Members. Most 'Hillyarders' are based in the UK, and Ireland, but a good number cruise their yachts from the coast of Europe, North America, also Australia.

The aim of the HOA is to provide and encourage the exchange of ideas, details of yachts, related equipment, and cruising experiences between Members. This objective is met in two ways, first, by the publishing of two newsletters annually, to which Members contribute articles and items of interest. Secondly the Association arranges a programme of social meetings; yacht rallies and dinners. At present these are organised in the South of England but could be located elsewhere if sufficient Members wished.

Day: 10th Oct. 2007 - The Commodore Write to me:

Dear Arne

Thankyou for your email. Many congratulations on buying and restoring Sylvig ( formerly Gyngleboy) I like your name much better. I am meeting our Treasurer this Saturday at Littlehampton and he will arrange a payment method for your Subscription. This should be no problem.

I am delighted to welcome you in advance as a member of the Association and hope you and Anne enjoy many happy years cruising and looking after your Hillyard yacht.

We currently have a Postal strike in the UK which means mail is seriously delayed . None the less I will post to you back numbers of our Newsletter* and also a 2007 Members Handbook. Our next Edition* is due out in November .

I am sure our website manager will be pleased to feature the story of Sylvig in due course as will our Newsletter Editor in a Spring 2008 issue.

With Best Wishes

Michael Walden