Alaunt of Corfe was built by Southern Ocean Shipyard in 1968 and designed by Van de Stadt. At 53ft she was one of the larger fibre glass yachts to be built at that time and won the Lloyds Register of Yachts award.
Used initially for RORC cross channel races and the Fastnet, her owner (RYS member Major Richard Sharples MP) also took her on regular cruises to the northern coasts of France including Brittany with his son Christopher and friends as crew. In 1969, Alaunt was entered for the Fastnet but at the very last minute had to withdraw as Major Sharples was a Home Office minister and the security services considered the risk of an IRA attack on the yacht too high.
In 1971, Christopher Sharples (24) had learnt of the Cape Town to Rio Race when on a business trip to South Africa. He asked his father if he could borrow the yacht to enter the race and, surprisingly, this was agreed. In May 1972, Christopher set sail in Alaunt for a summer in the Med and then onward to Cape Town.
In Corfu harbour the yacht was nearly destroyed when a motorboat alongside caught fire when taking on petrol illicitly from a lorry that had not guarded against static electricity by earthing. Considerable fire damage was done to the starboard hull and stern with all the gel coat melting but fortunately the glass fibre itself did not ignite. The owner of the motorboat lost his leg due to severe burns.
After repairs in Malta, Alaunt set sail with son Christopher, younger brother David and three young friends including Virginia Astor (daughter of RYS member Hugh Astor) via Gibraltar to Cape Town. Short stops were made for supplies in the Canaries and Cape Verde islands where a rough looking fisherman insisted on being paid to guard the yacht as otherwise he was going to steal something himself!
After having had no communication with the outside world for over three weeks and having lived largely off tinned ravioli, Alaunt arrived at Cape Town to a warm reception and much press interest partly because of the exceptionally young crew. Preparations were made for the Cape to Rio race and a crew of 12 assembled.
Alaunt performed well in the largely downhill 3,500 mile race and finished 8th in class. Strict water rationing had to be imposed as a period of calm mid Atlantic seemed that it would never end.
After the 1973 Rio Carnival, Alaunt set sail for Bermuda (where owner Major Sir Richard Sharples was now Governor) via Barbados with sons Christopher and David among the five crew. All radio equipment had been stolen in Rio so they had no means of communicating. A severe tropical storm off the coast of Brazil caused some damage and the loss of all fresh food so Christopher decided to head for the nearest port in Brazil for repairs, Salvador. On arriving at the harbour and stepping ashore, Christopher and David were informed that their father, as Governor of Bermuda, had been assassinated. The 25 year old ADC had also been murdered.
Alaunt eventually made her way back to Bermuda and then the UK later in 1973 when Christopher was elected a member of the RYS, having been proposed by Prime Minister Edward Heath. Yachting World published a four page article written by Christopher on the trip from the Med to Cape Town.
After time spent in the UK (she was lent to the RORC for the Fastnet when their own boat Griffin at the last minute was damaged) she moved to the Med and then to the Caribbean. Alaunt was eventually sold in the USA in 1977.