Ida was built over a century ago in the Corsier Port shipyard. The magnificent motor yacht has had an eventful history. In her 111-year life, she disappeared into oblivion time and again and narrowly escaped being scrapped more than once. Her miraculous fate came to a happy end with a professional restoration in the same shipyard where she was built.
“It’s the oldest motorboat on Lake Geneva that runs on a historic engine,” says Emmanuelle Bellwald proudly. She is the coordinator of the MJVP1909 Foundation, which was set up to preserve the historic ships of the Corsier Port shipyard in Geneva. IDA, as the venerable wooden yacht is called, was brought back to life by shipbuilders and mechanics in more than 3,500 hours of work. They have put their heart and soul into restoring the elegant beauty to almost her original condition. For this masterpiece, Ida 2023 was awarded the “Prix du patrimoine naval du LĂ©man” by the Fondation Bolle and won first prize in the category “La belle classe restauration” at the Monaco Classic Week.
The woodwork was considerable, says shipyard manager Sergy Petry. “But it wasn’t the main focus this time. What was special was the restoration of Felix’s original four-cylinder engine.” Ida was re-engined several times over the course of her career. There was a Felix engine lying around in the halls of Corsier Port, with many indications that it was the original model of the yacht from 1913. “Felix engines were built by Lucien Picker from Geneva. He was the brother of Charles Picker, the protĂ©gĂ© of shipyard founder Jules MĂ©gevet,” explains Serge Patry. The two were known for building and steering the fastest racing boats of their time, the Mais-Je-Vais-Piquer. It is therefore not surprising that Ida also has the characteristics of a racing yacht: the long mahogany foredeck in the aerodynamic shape of a turtle shell, for example, but also the position of the engine in front of the cockpit for optimum weight distribution and the low displacement of just 1500 kilos. Ida reached top speeds of 30 knots, thrilling the adrenaline junkies of the early 20th century.
Slow renaissance
During the First World War, the young English aristocrat Ida Birkin was sent by her family to the countryside near Geneva to recover from tuberculosis. The young, sporty and somewhat impetuous British woman was bored in the rural surroundings. She wanted action. To quench her thirst for action, her brother gave her a powerful motor yacht. Sir Henry Birkin was a keen racing driver himself. Whenever the opportunity arose, the siblings cruised on Lake Geneva in the fast motorboat. When Ida died of her illness in 1923, the yacht was shipped to England. Henry Birkin used it there regularly until he had a fatal accident in a car race in 1933. This was just the beginning of Ida’s turbulence. “It changed hands several times until the 1990s,” says Emmanuelle Bellwald. “Everyone wanted to restore her, but no one completed the restoration.” Then she disappeared from the scene.
It was not until 1987 that Ida resurfaced. A British couple were looking for dry wood and found the wreck under a tarpaulin instead. As classic boat enthusiasts, they immediately recognized the uniqueness of the object and decided to buy and restore it. After more than half a century on land, Ida was returned to her element in 1994 before finally ending up back in the shipyard where she was built. “The last owners did some research and found out that the yacht had been built in Corsier Port,” says Emmanuelle Bellwald. “When they wanted to part with the boat in 2008, they contacted the shipyard. They acquired the wooden boat in 2009 on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the company founded by Jules MĂ©gevet.”
Today, the traditional motor yacht belongs to the MJVP1909 Foundation. It owns around twenty boats, some of which are still waiting to be restored. Thanks to the foundation, the eventful history of the Ida has come to a happy end. She can continue to sail on Lake Geneva, take part in rallies and show off her beauty at meetings of historic yachts – much to the delight of boat lovers and fans of historic witnesses.
The MJVP1909 Foundation has set itself the task of promoting and preserving ships that are part of the cultural heritage of Lake Geneva. It is therefore actively looking for collectors who would like to participate in a restoration project. Info: fondation-mjvp1909.ch