The story of Sumurun

THE FIFES OF SCOTLAND: THE DYNASTY OF ELEGANCE

A family of naval architects and builders, the three Fife generations brought almost a thousand yachts into the world in the family yard at Fairlie on the Firth of Clyde. Sumurun, designed by William Fife III, was one of the artist’s greatest masterpieces and today she remains one of the bonniest survivors of the family legacy.

Sumurun, un original et somptueux cadeau de Lady Victoria Sackville-West à son mari libertin

On Wednesday 29 April 1914, Lady Victoria Sackville-West (1862- 1936), who had been trying for months to curb the impulses of her libertine husband, Lionel Edward Sackville (1867-1928), third baron of Sackville, and to reconcile their failing couple, treated him to an original and sumptuous gift, which glided gently across Fairlie’s shores in Scotland: Sumurun.
A 28-metre yacht with a highly exotic yet deliberately chosen name, she was designed by the master William Fife.

Why Sumurun ?

This name, Sumurun, inspired by a tale from the Arabian Nights, is the title of a hit pantomime created in 1910 by the Austrian theatre producer, Max Reinhardt (1873-1943). Ernst Lubitsch would turn it into a film in 1920 starring Jenny Hasselqvist, a Swedish ballerina, in the role of Sumurun.

Sumurun‘s seven lives

Over a period spanning nearly seventy years, Sumurun will have a change of owner and operator seven times, have her rig and sail plan transformed, endure a terrible war, undergo a name change and have her appearance modified by adopting several different hull colours, before finally leaving the Atlantic for Mediterranean waters.

A masterly renovation

After a century of sailing, capricious owners and risky transformations, it was time for Sumurun to begin a whole new life. In 2017, the Fife design was returned to the Guip yard in Brest to undergo a remarkable restoration spanning two years.