For many years the Windsor Castle has been a sorry sight laying unloved on the River Fal in Falmouth while awaiting conversion to a superyacht.
Owned by the Bamford Family it was speculated by many that she would one day become a stable mate to their 73 metre Virginian.
Now however she is to be the stable mate of an even more famous yacht now that the owners of the Royal Yacht Britannia have snapped her up.
They plan to plough over £1 million of investment funds into converting this classically designed ship into a 25 bedroom luxury ‘boatique’ hotel.
At 73 metres overall, she is nearly two-thirds of the size of Britannia and once converted she will be berthed permanently, adjacent to Britannia in Edinburgh’s historic port of Leith.
Launched in August 1963, Windsor Castle was the last ship built by the Blythswood Shipbuilding Company, Glasgow, and was previously the Northern Lighthouse Board’s (NLB) tender Fingal. She was sold by the NLB in 2000 and has been laid up ever since in Cornwall
She was Leith registered but spent most of her NLB service working out of Oban for 30 years, followed by her last 6 years, based in Stromness, Orkney.
The ship is scheduled to arrive in Leith during the week of 25 August, 2014, and undergo an 18 month conversion, scheduled to open in Spring 2016.
Britannia‘s Chief Executive Bob Downie said, ‘After many years of searching for the right ship, we are delighted that we have been able to acquire this iconic vessel and look forward to opening Scotland’s first boatique hotel. As a youngster growing up in Oban, I have very fond memories of seeing the Fingal and I am delighted that the long-term future of another much loved classic vessel has been secured.’