About Saecwen
Saecwen is a one-off traditionally designed 50ft wooden sailing yacht.
She was designed by legendary marine architect Nigel Irens and built at the famous Elephant Boat yard on the River Hamble in the south of England during 2019 and 2020.
Launched in May 2021 she has cruised thousands of miles under sail, including crossing the Bay of Biscay down to Northern Spain and back in 2022 and then a complete circumnavigation of Great Britain and Ireland in 2023, during which time she visited some of the most remote corners of our islands, including the Outer Hebrides, Shetland and the Orkney Islands.
In May 2025 she set sail on new adventures, with plans over the coming years to cross many of the world’s oceans, and to visit some of our most remotest regions and communities.
The Boat
Saecwen is traditionally built using sustainably sourced timber.
She is constructed with white Alaskan cedar planking secured to laminated Khaya mahogany frames, with the hull sheaved with a further two layers of Khaya strip planking
Her measurements are:
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Length on deck: 15.6m
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Length at waterline: 13.3m
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Beam: 3.8m
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Draft (centreboard up): 1.8m
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Draft (centreboard down) 3.6m
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Displacement: 23t
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Mainmast height: 17m
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Mizzen mast height: 11m
Saecwen's crew
Saecwen’s permanent crew members are Charlie and Heloise
Charlie (or Charles to others) grew up on the original Saecwen, a 1962-built Alan Buchanan sloop, in which three generations of his family crossed many oceans, including his1989-90 voyage from the UK to Venezuela and back. When the demands of work and family necessitated the parting of the ways with the old boat, he vowed that one day he would build her bigger sister - and 25 years later, that is exactly what he did.
After an intense career in the communications and public relations industry, Charlie founded in 2021 River Action, an environmental NGO which campaigns for the end of the polluting of the UK’s water courses and during the subsequent years he featured actively as a leading public voice in the national campaign for clean water.
As he and Heloise embark upon their next adventure, Charlie remains Chairman of the charity and will remotely continue to be actively involved in River Action’s work.
Heloise has crewed on Saecwen for over 3,000 miles since her launch in 2021. As a keen linguist, speaking French, Spanish and Catalan, and aiming to learn Portuguese en route, she is the ship’s Comms Officer as well as the Chief Provisioner.
Heloise has dedicated her career to sustainability, working in over 12 countries over the last 3 decades as a social entrepreneur. Her latest endeavour is HUSK an impact driven business in SE Asia which transforms agricultural waste into biochar-based fertilizers to regenerate soil and build climate resilience for farmers. In her current role as Chairwoman she continues to work closely with her team in Cambodia and Vietnam from her new office on the high seas.
Queen of the seas
From childhood memories to a brand new ketch designed to handle the 21st century, the owner of Saecwen has created a true modern classic, as Nic Compton finds out.
“Look at that piece of oak behind you. I first met that tree when I was a kid, growing up in the New Forest. Ten years ago it blew over in a storm but I managed to buy a chunk of it through a forester friend. It’s a 400 or 500-year-old piece of oak – the same wood used to build Nelson’s navy...continue reading
The story of Saecwen’s build (2019-2021)