‘Velsheda’ was purchased in 1996 as a bare hull lying at mooring in Portsmouth Harbour, and was taken to Southampton Yacht Services, on the River Itchen where a two year comprehensive rebuild was completed to bring her back into immaculate racing condition.

She was fitted with the tallest one piece carbon mast in the world and a comprehensive suit of racing sails were produced, developed from wind tunnel testing at Southampton University. She was re-launched in November 1997. Dykstra & Partners were Naval Architects for the refit and also of other J Class yachts in the current racing field, including “Shamrock V”, “Endeavour” and “Ranger”.