Kyla II 

An Invited Friend of The Harrison Butler Association
The Bermudan Sloop built in 1974 to a design by James & George McGruer

Kyla II : Inland Refit Provides Tourist Attraction
Kyla II has become a much talked about yacht at Sawley Marina, in inland Nottinghamshire, for this marina is more used to providing berths for Canal Narrowboats. Kyla II needs far more water depth than is available here and so she looks very out of place. The reason she's here, of course, to have a complete, no expense spared, refit (April 2018).
Kyla II was one of the last yachts built by McGruer & Co, and she's an interesting design that shows McGruer's, although still building in wood, were working on cutting edge design. Gone is the long, full length traditional keel, replaced with a short fin keel and the rudder hung from a skeg. A lighter and faster boat is the pro, less directional stability is the con. She was commissioned by the optometrist Matthew Ballantine, who'd previously sailed the 1926 built 8 metre IRC racer Margaret, built and designed by Anker & Jensen. For more about Margaret and Matthew Ballantine (the family's more famous for Whisky) see the links below.
Kyla II's design was developed from two previous McGruer designed and built boats. Firstly, the IOR (International Offshore Rule which fell out of favour in the 1990s) racer Marguerita Helena IV, built in 1969 and now called Reflection, and secondly Tritsch Tratsch, built in 1971. However, she has an attractive but old fashioned short counter which reveals her prestigious pedigree.

Kyla II Statistics
Built : 1974 by McGruer & Co Ltd in Clynder, Argyll and Bute, Scotland
LOA : 38' 4"
LWL : 29' 4"
Beam : 11' 6"
Draught : 5' 11"
Displacement : 16 tons TM
Lloyd's Register : N° 361665
Signal Letters : ----
Sail : N° 469 C

Kyla II Custodians & Home Ports
Second Owner (1996-2018...) Sawley Marina, Nottinghamshire, England
MD Ballantine (1974-1996) Clynder, Argyll & Bute, Scotland

Kyla II Links 
• Margaret's history from 1926 to the present day
• The 1948 postage stamp that features Margaret
• An obituary for Matthew Dumfries Ballantine (1911-1996)

Five 8 m class yachts racing:
Unity and Vim in front, Margaret third,
followed by Old Chap and an unknown fifth yacht

Page last updated : April 2018

Top of page