Built for Louis V Fulton and named ‘Eilean’ she was one of the last of the large yachts designed by William Fife Jnr. She has had many previous names: ‘My Lady Of Aros’, ‘Alison’ and now ‘Belle Aventure’.
Lord Ivor Wimborne owned ‘Belle’ when she completed a refit in 1981 and she then sailed from the Canary Islands to Antigua in 19 days. She is very well travelled having clocked up more miles than most of her contempories.
In 1989 she was restored at Southampton Yacht Services on the Hamble River and went on to compete in the Atlantic Challenge. She then had a major refit at Fairlie Restorations (Hamble River) and subsequently continued sailing to faraway lands.
She is a regular on the Mediterranean classic regatta circuit.