A bronze sculpture of a classic Gareloch One Design yacht will soon take pride of place at Helensburgh’s Outdoor Museum after councillors approved funding for the artwork.
Helensburgh and Lomond Area Committee approved the £600 funding application from the Gareloch One Design Class Association at a meeting on June 21.
The funding will come from £55,500 surplus funds from the CHORD (Campbeltown, Helensburgh, Oban, Rothesay and Dunoon) regeneration project that was set aside and earmarked for the future enhancement of the Outdoor Museum on Colquhoun Square.
And the committee also agreed to open the fund to a second round of applications, due to run until September 2018.
Gareloch One Design Class Association’s proposal details plans for a £1920 bronze ‘half-model’ sculpture, of which £600 (31%) will be covered by the council fund. The Association recently restored one of the 90-year-old yachts and the sale of the vessel will help fund the remainder of the artwork project.
Councillor Aileen Morton, Policy Lead for Economic Development, said: “This artwork will be a welcome addition to the exhibits on display at the award-winning Helensburgh Outdoor Museum, which has proved very popular both locally and further afield. The Gareloch One Design yacht is a very historic vessel and it’s lovely that a model with such rich local historical significance will be on display at the Outdoor Museum. I can’t wait to see the finished product.”
Half-models are a traditional feature of British boat building and have been used for centuries to give customers an idea of a proposed vessel. Over the years, half-models have become popular collectors’ items and artworks.
Renowned boat builder and boat model builder David Spy, of Tayinloan, Argyll, will supply a model for Stenhousemuir-based foundry Drysdale Brothers to create the artwork. It is expected that the sculpture will be in place at the Outdoor Museum later this year.
Built in 1924, the Gareloch One Design Class was a collection of just 16 classically profiled 24-foot yachts, designed and built by McGruers. With the Association’s renovation of the last of the ‘missing’ yachts, the vessel’s profile has risen in the years since its 90th anniversary in 2014.