FARIDA
Laurent Giles gem
Around the mid to late 20th century, British innovation in sailing boat design was at a pinnacle, with groundbreaking designers like Uff a Fox, Laurent Giles, John Illingworth and Angus Primrose leading the world. The 35ft cutter Farida, launched to a Laurent Giles design in 1939, slightly precedes the fury of post-war innovation, but when you consider than she’s almost contemporary with Whooper (1937) which, at a similar size and from the same designer, has won probably more classic racing silver than any other yacht in… well, certainly Britain, you can be assured she’ll fly. Her form manages to be both unusual and beautiful, a trick Giles was sometimes able to pull off. She was re-launched in 2019 after a complete, no-expense-spared restoration, and made a…