A force to be contended with in yachting competitions, the 51-foot sloop Figaro IV was commissioned by New York yachtsman William Snaith, a man Sports Illustrated dubbed “salty sailor of Park Avenue.”
Since her launch in 1963, Figaro IV won the 1965 SORC series, was a top contender in the St. Petersburg-Fort Lauderdale series, and was a favorite during the 1967 Admiral’s Cup in England. She’s held up exceptionally well over the years and is still sailing along the Eastern Seaboard today.
“My husband, David, and I purchased Figaro IV from Bill Snaith in about 1972 when our two sons were 6 months old and two and one-half years old. We sought to take a year or so off from “corporate life” and live-aboard. And that we did, going from Lake Ontario, down the Hudson River and Intercoastal Waterway, then offshore to the BVI and on to Grenada”, Ernestine H. “Ernie” Shineman.
“Figaro IV, built by Robert Derecktor for William Snaith in 1962, is alive and well in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia after a complete multi year refit. She was relaunched in June 2017 and has since been cruised around Nova Scotia and did a trip to the Bahamas during the Winter 2017 / 18”, Walter T Flower.
