NEW LISTING – 1963 McGruer 8m Cruiser Racer – INISMARA

Wednesday 5th June 2024

Mark Cameron Yachts are delighted to have been appointed to act in the sale of the 1963 McGruer 8m Cruiser Racer ‘INISMARA’.

Launched in 1963, INISMARA is perhaps the most famous of the 8 metre Cruiser Racer class (8mCR).  For many, she is an icon of the work of James McGruer because of her looks, racing success, quality of construction and commissioning owner.

INISMARA was commissioned by Peter Odlum, a stalwart of Irish sailing but no stranger to Clyde racing or west coast cruising.  She was his second 8mCR, the James McGruer-designed NAMHARA having to make way for INISMARA.  Built to Lloyds A1, in her first season she scored 17 wins from 25 starts and won the Lloyds Register Yacht Trophy.  Peter Odlum continued to enjoy racing success and enjoyable cruising with INISMARA, before commissioning James McGruer to design the yawl, RINAMARA, launched in 1968.

With just her third owner, INISMARA was purchased in 1995 by her current custodian after an extended lay-up of some 10+ years in the sheds at McGruers. Lovingly re-commissioned, great care was taken to maintain the boats original specifications while sympathetically modernising some areas. Lightly used in the by her current owners INISMARA is offered for sale in excellent condition with her original hardware, fittings and finishes very much still intact.

On file we hold the 1965 Yachting Monthly review along with an extensive collection of original photos and press cuttings cataloguing the successes of INISMARA and Peter Odlum. These are available to interested parties upon request.

Lying ashore in the shed at Kilmelford Yacht Haven, INISMARA is available for viewing by prior appointment.

Find full details of the 1963 McGruer 8m Cruiser Racer ‘INISMARA’ here

THE 8 METRE CRUISER RACERS:

Distinct from International Rule 8 metres – “straight eights” – the 8 metre Cruiser Racer class came out of an amendment to the Rule, to devise a level-rating cruiser-racer class.   As such, the 8mCRs are often very competitive when racing and commodious enough for family cruising.

It is obvious that the 8mCR class was resoundingly adopted by Clyde sailors – not just because the majority were actively raced on the Firth but because Clyde naval architect, James McGruer, designed so many of them.  Out of 23 8mCRs, James McGruer designed 15, including the first in 1951 and the last in 1968.  During the 1960s, the 8mCRs were the most actively competed of the Clyde classes and they continued to have a class start on the Clyde until 1975.

OWNER’S COMMENTS:

It has been a pleasure to be custodian of Inismara for some 25 years. We have tried to retain the character and originality, minimising any modernisation of fittings and systems. She is a joy to sail in all weathers, in our 25+ years of ownership we have never had to reef the main, she just digs deeper and thunders on. There is nowhere better in the world to enjoy a fine dram than in the cockpit at the end of a good day’s sailing.