All grown up now

ight years ago, the pages of this magazine were alive with one of the rarest and most enlivening stories we have ever published. Our Restoration of the Year Award, started in 2007 for the rebuild of the 122ft (37m), 1920-built Herbert White cutter Lulworth, was split for the first time in 2011 into two categories: over and under 40ft (12.2m). The small-boat prize went to the 26ft (7.9m), 1935 Harrison Butler sloop Mischief, while the big-boat winner was the 42ft (12.8m), 1945 German Frers ketch Vagabundo II. The story of her restoration, by her 23-year-old owner and his mates from boatbuilding college, was a riot of youthful energy on a shoestring budget. For the next few years, the classic yacht racing