At the time of commissioning Pinkney’s Dyarchy with the Swedish yard this 34’ cutter was already well under construction for Jack Giles friend Captain P. Bullock.
Launched in 1937 she was a scaled up Andrillot although the run of keel and forefoot were markedly different with steeper rise and deeper draft at the heel; Valfreya’s lines plan was finer aft with slightly hooked buttocks. Construction weights were considerably heavier than Giles had anticipated and it is probably for this reason that she was a little tender.
But for all of that Valfreya was a very pretty boat, originally sketched with a single spreader the rig this was modified during construction to a double spreader hollow mast arrangement to save a little top weight. She carried a staysail, jib and jib topsail.
Captain Bullock was a very experienced yachtsman who knew exactly what he wanted and Jack Giles was commissioned only to design the hull and sail plan; but the construction arrangements of Polish Oak planking on grown frames were left largely to the builder, and the interior layout and outfit to Captain Bullocks own sketches.
We have seven owners listed up to Hugo Duplessis in the early 1960’s. In early 1964 she was sold to J. Cordiner who fitter her out for voyage to New Zealand. He then sailed from UK in late ‘64 or early ’65, the records are unclear. But the Laurent Giles office received no further news from him until letter from New Zealand saying that on a fine clear night of 4th May 1966 she was wrecked and destroyed on an atoll in Pacific – long 146º 22″ W. Lat. 14º 22″ S. Fortunately all of the crew were safe having walked ashore.
In her time Valfreya cruised the Baltic: Germany, Sweden & Finland in 1937,then to the UK and again back to Scandinavia in 1938, this time to Denmark & Sweden.
She was an outstanding cruising yacht with many design points that would have enthused the older school of cruising men, Yet she was very capable of impressing at a competitive level having won the 1937 Romola Challenge Cup 1937