Anyone know of boat designer name Jean Vignes

[jeanvignes]

Originally Posted by skipperpete

I sailed on a boat called Chimere many years ago and knew the builder quite well. He was a Basque and built the boat in Sydney at his home/ factory near to Akuna bay. His name was Jean Vignes but more of a boat builder than a designer.... and a very aggressive and competent sailor....and one of the speediest boat builders I’ve met. His sons and wife all worked on that project....... assuming its the same Chimere.
Pete.

Hi Pete, I'm Jean Vignes' daughter in law, we've only just seen this forum. He has some information about the boat.
Jean is telling me the Chimere was designed by Olins Stephens and he changed the scale instead of 20m it was 15m with the help of Carlos Martignou? spelling an architect now deceased who lived in Terry Hills at the time. Jean is now quite unwell and he was thrilled to see the boat he built on here.

[Uncle Bob]

Originally Posted by jeanvignes

Hi Pete, I'm Jean Vignes' daughter in law, we've only just seen this forum. He has some information about the boat.
Jean is telling me the Chimere was designed by Olins Stephens and he changed the scale instead of 20m it was 15m with the help of Carlos Martignou? spelling an architect now deceased who lived in Terry Hills at the time. Jean is now quite unwell and he was thrilled to see the boat he built on here.

Hi and welcome. Goes to show that it can indeed be a small world.

[skipperpete]

Originally Posted by jeanvignes

Hi Pete, I'm Jean Vignes' daughter in law, we've only just seen this forum. He has some information about the boat.

Jean is telling me the Chimere was designed by Olins Stephens and he changed the scale instead of 20m it was 15m with the help of Carlos Martignou? spelling an architect now deceased who lived in Terry Hills at the time. Jean is now quite unwell and he was thrilled to see the boat he built on here.

Great to hear from you and truly sorry to hear that Jean’s unwell. I have fond memories of the days when Chimere was at Akuna Bay and it was a great honor to sail with him in the spectator fleet for the start of a Sydney- Hobart, I’ve been addicted to Bûche de Nöel since that Christmas.
Pete.

[jeanvignes]

Originally Posted by skipperpete

Great to hear from you and truly sorry to hear that Jean’s unwell. I have fond memories of the days when Chimere was at Akuna Bay and it was a great honor to sail with him in the spectator fleet for the start of a Sydney- Hobart, I’ve been addicted to Bûche de Nöel since that Christmas.
Pete.

Jean is flattered that you remember the good ole days.

[Chimere53]

Greetings again Pete, and to Jean's daughter-in-law,

It's just wonderful that you have made contact and so sorry to hear that Jean is unwell.
When we bought Chimere in 2006, in Busselton WA, we were told that she was a "Stephens 53" ... but I could find no evidence of that, and the people selling her couldn't support the claim in anyway. So it's very interesting to hear that Jean based the design on a 20m Olin Stephens design. As I mentioned to Pete, Chimere looks almost identical to a MacLear Harris designed canoe stern cutter Angantyr, built in steel in the 1960s, and I'd be interested to hear from Jean whether he was familiar with that vessel.

Jean might be interested to learn that we used Chimere around the islands of Vanuatu delivering medical teams to the remote villages and islands through our group Medical Sailing Ministries Inc. Some videos of those experiences since 2009 can be viewed here ... https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...xOGn_X8ceT5KNi

Nearly 3 years ago I sailed Chimere to NZ, and after getting locked down there due to COVID, I finally managed to sail home to Melb in July last year. Jean might enjoy viewing the video of the return voyage here ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ch6rXS0wyw

After 16 years of ownership, I now have Chimere on the market, and the video I have put together to highlight her features can be viewed here ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQw85oQbeEQ

Having always wondered about Chimere's origins, it really is exciting to make contact.

If it's possible to chat with Jean, that would be great. Or maybe email me direct at highseas53@gmail.com

all the best

Rob Latimer

[jeanvignes]

Hi Rob, I'll get in touch with you via email and Jean can have a chat to you on the phone about the boat and what he remembers. Thanks very much for adding the youtube links of the boats voyages, Jean will enjoy seeing them very much at this time in his life.

[Jim Cate]

All of the above reassures me that the good side of the internet outweighs the bad side that is bemoaned in the press. The good vibes expressed in the above posts make me pretty happy about the role of CF in the world.

Thanks to all who contributed.

Jim

[neilpride]

Wow, i see those hull lines in the Chimere and like you guys mention Angantyr , they are very similar, just to mention that i was the captain of Angantyr around 6 years.. One of the best boat i have ever seen and sailed in my life..

[Chimere53]

Thought I would update you on my search. I made contact with Jean Vignes, through his daughter-in-law, through this forum, after a rather miraculous series of unrelated events. Jean is in his 80s now, and very unwell with cancer. My brother, who lives in Sydney, was able to go and visit him, and video a long conversation about the boats construction and a range of other matters. After search for 16 years, it was a very satisfying conclusion, which answered many lingering questions. Jean definitely designed Chimere as a 15m vessel, reduced down from a larger 20m vessel. I still take this larger vessel to be Angantyr, the MacLear Harris designed vessel, because they are just so identical to each other, in almost every respect. Anyway, thanks for your assistance Pete, much appreciated.

[skipperpete]

hi Rob,thanks for the update. It was a delight hearing about Chimere again, but very sad to hear about Jean's health. I'm glad that you were able to settle the puzzle of Chimere's past, were you able to view any pics of the construction?
PeteJ

[Chimere53]

Hi Pete,

sadly there were no photos. And I still think there was confusion about the original inspiration for Chimere's lines. But we were not going to push the questioning too far. Jean did mention that he returned to France after building Chimere and got into mosaics - both creating and restoration. Quite the world's authority on the topic as the links below reveal.

https://www.fubiz.net/usersstuff/int...y-jean-vignes/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kzfd88jEOsA

Again, it was really good to make contact with Jean. I understand that hearing of his beloved Chimere again, and that she has remained a strong and useful wee ship, really lifted his spirits; particularly at this stage in his life.

And special thanks to his daughter-in-law for her assistance. It could not have been possible otherwise, and of course my brother who was equally keen to learn of Chimere's past, and went to visit Jean in person and recorded the conversation on video

Smooth seas, fair breeze and here's to Jean and his creation Chimere!

Rob L

[skipperpete]

I’ll drink to that, cheers to Jean Vignes an Chimere❤️
I just started watching the video and was amazed to see Jean on the pèniche, my own little boat is at Port St Louis du Rhône not too far away and I cross the road bridge in the background when I go to Arles shopping. 500 metres further along the canal is the opening bridge that Van gogh painted when he lived quite near by. 200 metres the other way through the ècluse is where Vincent painted “starry night” on the quay of the Rhône.

[Jamme]

Amazing thread. Thanks for sharing!