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The Vema hull was launched in 1923 from the Danish yards of
Burmeister and Wein. She was originally hristened Hussar, the fourth in
a series of five E.F. Hutton yachts so named. By most accounts, Hussar
was the most sumptuous privately owned ship in the world. And as such,
she sailed the world as the reigning queen of yachts for nearly ten years.
In the early 1930's Hutton commissioned his fifth Hussar* as a wedding
present to his new wife, Marjorie Merriweather Post. The old Hussar
was sold to George and Maude Vettlesen and re-named Vema. During World
War II, Vema was put into service as a Merchant Marine cadet training ship.
Columbia University acquired Vema in 1953 and converted her into a marine
survey vessel removing her superstructure and elegant fittings. Over
the next twenty-eight years she logged well over a million nautical miles
charting the ocean bottoms of the world and adding greatly to the knowledge
of marine geology. Through her, Columbia University became the
respected world center for oceanographic studies. She was retired by Columbia in 1981.
In 1982 Captain Mike Burke, the founder and owner of Windjammer Barefoot
Cruises, acquired Vema from Columbia and re-named her "Mandalay".
She was renovated and refitted to her former glory as a sleek barkentine with
masts extending 132 feet above the deck. She carries over 20,000 square feet
of sail and is regarded as a well tuned ship. Her overall length is 236 feet
and she has a beam of 33 feet. Her 15 feet of draft allows her passage in
relatively shallow waters.
Currently Mandalay cruises the 500 nautical miles between Antiqua and Grenada with a somewhat different itinerary for each of the two 13 day trip segments. Mandalay is fitted to accommodate 72 passengers and a crew of 28.
1/96 SCALE
2 SHEET PLAN
PTP-05
PRICE:
$ 28.50
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