Drum

When we stopped at Greenock marina my attention was immediately drawn to another yacht, Drum, berthed on the other side of the marina. I recalled the drama of an incident that she was involved in years ago.

Drum was originally built for Simon Le Bon, the lead singer with the pop group Duran Duran. Le Bon wanted to use the yacht to enter the Whitbread Round The World yacht race in 1985/86. As part of preparations for the race, Le Bon and crew took part in the 1985 Fastnet race – a 600 mile race from Cowes to the Fastnet rock off the southern tip of Ireland and back to the finish line at Plymouth. Unfortunately due to a design fault the keel fell of the yacht during the Fastnet race and the yacht promptly inverted, trapping Le Bon and the rest of the crew inside. By good fortune the crew of another boat, Carat, noticed the drama and raised the alarm, and the crew were saved by the RNLI and the help of a helicopter crew. The yacht was repaired within a month and was ready for the start of the Whitbread. Public interest in Britain was all the more because of the media reports concerning the Fastnet race incident, and because Drum was the only British maxi entered, and 10,000 spectator boats welcomed her return on the final leg in the Whitbread as she finished third overall!

Le Bon later sold Drum to Sir Arnold Clarke, owner of the automobile group. Clarke later loaned the boat back to Le Bon and his crew to enable them to compete in the 2005 Fastnet Race and complete ‘unfinished business’ whilst raising funds for the RNLI. Today Drum is based in Scottish waters and is also available for corporate charter.

Drum in Greenock marina

Drum's stern