Palma.Palma was treated to a very special visit this week when the Orion of the Seas moored up in the Marina Port.
It was 1910 when the Camper & Nicholson boatyard launched Sulvana in Gosport, a schooner destined to make history. At that time yachting was in its infancy, but the class and elegance of this lovely schooner made it stand out immediately. Built for the Spanish Royal family, it was later bought by Colonel Courteney C.E. Morgan, registered at the port of Portsmouth and obviously sailed under the British flag. Subsequently Sulvana was transferred to Brest and sold to another owner, who in turn resold it until it was transferred to Argentina, where it remained for a long while.
In 1930 the schooner was once again property of a Spanish owner, who brought it to the Mediterranean, so after five names ranging from Pais de France, through Le Matin, Diane and Vira, the schooner was finally christened Orion. But one of the most important moments in the history of Orion is definitely the year 1967, when without masts and with its deck seriously damaged following an incident off Cap Creos during a close-hauled passage in difficult weather conditions, it was transferred to the port of La Spezia. This circumstance forced the architect responsible for restoring Orion's efficiency to redesign the sails, transforming it from a schooner with fore-and- aft rigging into one with staysails, but all this happened years before the arrival in La Spezia.
Today, she continues to sail the seas as a charter yacht with luxury accommodation for 10 people with an 11-strong professional crew.
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