Speckled Wood 

(ex Nippy Sweetie)

An Invited Friend of The Harrison Butler Association
The IOR built in 1975 to a design by George McGruer

Photograph by Martin Hansen, Crookhaven, Ireland, August 2018

Speckled Wood : Saved From The Scrap Yard
I was invited aboard the 1975 McGruer designed and built yacht Speckled Wood when I visited Crookhaven in Southern Ireland, August 2018. Her owner, Ted O'Driscoll, had rescued her from O'Donovan's boat yard several years previously. A Furniture Maker by trade, he has lovingly restored what was about to be scrapped as a family cruising boat. She was clearly built to go fast, and it was fascinating to see such a moulded shape made in wood. By 1975, McGruers were one of the few yards still flying the flag for wooden construction. The boat is better known as Nippy Sweetie, under which name she was exhibited at the 1975 London Boat Show in Earls Court. She is a refinement of a previous McGruer design from 1970, Cuilaun. I have found a small boat show report from 1975 that is referring to Nippy Sweetie, or Speckled Wood as Ted has renamed her;

Speckled Wood Statistics
Built : 1975 by McGruer & Co Ltd, in Clynder, Argyll and Bute, Scotland
LOA : 34' 5"
LWL : 25' 11"
Beam : 10' 9"
Draught : 5' 11"
Displacement : -- tons TM
Lloyd's Register : N° ------
Sail : N° ----
Signal Letters : ----
MMSI : ---------

Speckled Wood Custodians & Home Ports 
Ted O'Driscoll (?-2014-2019...) Skibbereen, Ireland
Unknown Owner (?-?) Ringsend Loch, Dublin, Ireland
Dr Peter Burns (?-?) Ardglass Marina and Bangor Marina, Ireland
Ninan Sanderson (1975-?) Clynder, Argyll & Bute, Scotland

Speckled Wood Links
• None Found (December 2019)

Page last updated : December 2019

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