The former royal yacht Bluebottle, built in 1948, is on show at National Maritime Museum, Falmouth, following a re-fit. She was presented to the Queen and Prince Philip as a wedding present by the Island Sailing Club.

 Bluebottle, one of the International Dragon class, has had a varied and successful racing career, with the highpoint being selected as the British yacht for the 1956 Melbourne Olympics when her crew returned with a bronze medal.

 In 1962, she was lent to Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, to give officers in training the opportunity to sail.  In 2002, she was donated to the National Maritime Museum Cornwall where she still remains on the water for occasional sailing trips.

 Before Bluebottle went on show at the Museum, she was given an extensive re-fit by Maurice Hunkin which was very appropriate as his father had carried out the yacht’s first refit some years earlier.