Mariquita Book - mk2.5

FOREWORD
When I got the call from William Collier, I was stunned. Here was the preeminent authority on classic yachting offering me
the opportunity to own this remarkable piece of yachting provenance and history – how could I do anything else but say “yes”.
But this was my heart speaking and the practicality of buying and importantly maintaining a yacht of this sort did not escape
me. A syndicate was what was needed and so I asked William how long I had to confirm my answer. “Oh”, said William, “take
your time ... but if you could give me a reply in a month or so then that would be fine”.
In reality it took me less than a week to assemble three good friends who could understand and appreciate this once in a lifetime
opportunity. There was no particular science to my approaches ... it was simply a question of making a few calls to people who
could understand the significance of this opportunity, and who had the wherewithal to say yes.
Stephen Hemsley and I had shared a boat before and the partnership had worked really well, albeit on a power boat, but the
different nature of this project seemed secondary. Stephen took less than a minute to say yes ... so one down and just two to
go. Nick Edmiston and Jamie Matheson signed up on the same day, the former on a telephone call to Nick’s elegant home in
Saint-Tropez. Nick’s name had been synonymous with classic yachting for many years and he obviously knew Mariquita well.
“Count me in”, he said, again without hesitation; wow, I thought, at this rate we could buy two! Later that day I was in London
at the Royal Thames Yacht Club, where, fortuitously, a chance meeting with Jamie Matheson, who in any event, had been on
my list of people to call, resulted in another positive “yes” meaning that the syndicate was now complete. Jamie’s momentary
hesitation was whilst he made a call to “the boss” (his lovely wife Angela) whose simple response was “what are you waiting for”!
It was heart-warming for me to have got such a positive response from friends who trusted me to make this project work and
so it was that I was able to go back to William Collier within just one week of his call and say, “William, I am delighted to tell
you that we are on”. Peter Livanos and Ernst Klaus, the then owners of Mariquita, were magnanimous with their kindness and
cooperation in letting the new syndicate sail with them on the Solent in 2012, as well as at the Cannes and Saint-Tropez regattas
that year. Clearly they wanted a good home for Mariquita and a process of familiarisation with the intricacies of sailing her was
essential to the ongoing project. A deal was concluded in October 2012 and the new syndicate was delighted that so many of
the crew wanted to stay with us for the 2013 season.
John Caulcutt
April 2016
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