A little bit of history

Tuiga’s long life began in 1909, when she slipped into the cold Scottish waters at the boat builder William Fife’s yard. She had been commissioned by the Duc de Medinacelli, a close friend of the King of Spain, Alphonse XIII. William Fife designed Tuiga as a twin to the Fife-built Hispania, so that the two 15-meter JI vessels were equally matched for racing purposes. From a distance, the two sisters were indeed difficult to distinguish. Construction-time was rapid: a mere 6 months. Somehow, Tuiga always came in second, just behind the Royal
Yacht Hispania. Given the similarity in design and construction, it was whispered that the good Duc de Medinacelli preferred to rein in Tuiga for fear of creating the embarrassing situation of having beaten his friend and sovereign King Alphonse XIII.

After several years of complete restoration at the Fairlie Restorations shipyards in England, under the care of Duncan Walker, Tuiga is today the Yacht Club de Monaco’s flagship.
She met up with Pen Duick in Benodet for her hundred years and took part in the Universal Exhibition in Lisbon in 1998, as well as the America's Cup Jubilee regattas in August 2001 and she made a stopover in 2007 in Valencia to participate in the festivities for the 32nd America’s Cup.
Tuiga sailed on the Seine River to take part in the Armada and she took then top honours at Cowes Classic Week. For this 15 M IR, which had not sailed along the English coastline since the America’s Cup Jubilee in 2001, it was a return to the roots in the temple of sailing. It was a great honour to be moored in front of the famous Royal Yacht Squadron, a prestigious venue which has written some of the finest pages in the history of yachting.

Such intense activity demonstrates just how committed the YCM members, who make up the crew of Tuiga, are to the yachting tradition. Their interest has never wavered, like that of their President H.S.H. Prince Albert II who often takes the helm. So did Eric Tabarly, Paul Cayard and Dennis Conner. It is a dynamism which gave birth to “Spirit of Tuiga”, a club which unites all those in Monaco who are passionate about yachts.