History of SV Gloria
S/V Gloria and the other Ocean 71's were conceived by E G Van de Stadt to be racing yachts or luxury cruisers modeled after his very successful ocean racer Storm Vogel.
At that time they were the world's largest fiberglass production sailing yachts. Mr. Van de Stadt along with an associate who was a pioneer in structural fiberglass built 25 very strong and fast yachts between 1970 and 1976.
Gloria was launched in 1973. Her early adventures were sailing among the islands and fjords of Sweden. During one summer holiday with some friends aboard, she experienced engine trouble and their mechanic told them repairs would take about 4 days as he must order the replacement parts.
The group decided they didn't want to wait and paid the mechanics to remove the original engine and install a new Volvo Penta as quickly as possible. As the story goes they worked through the night and Gloria was on her way within 24 hours.
Some years later she was sold to a Dutchman who sailed her throughout the Canary islands and across the Atlantic into the Caribbean as a charter boat.
August of 2005 she met her new and present owner - Stephen S J King. Later that same year she began an epic voyage to New Zealand for a major refit. Sailing south from Amsterdam across the Bay of Biscay briefly stopping off in Gibraltar, the Canary Islands and Cape Town, South Africa before traversing the Indian Ocean in the roaring forties.
This challenging voyage was a test not only of her crew but also showed off her superior design and seaworthiness. Her performance in the extreme conditions was exemplary.
While docked in Cape Town a small group of old salts showed up one afternoon with yarns of their adventures aboard Storm Vogel.
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Following the refit she continued her circumnavigation of the Southern Ocean rounding Cape Horn and visiting Ushuaia, Patagonia and on to Argentina, Cape Verde islands then up to Cork, Ireland.
After a visit to Portugal and Spain it was off to the Canaries again before crossing the Atlantic to Antigua, sailing through the Caribbean for the season ending up transiting the Panama Canal after a brief visit to the San Blas islands.
The Pacific cruise included visits to the Galapagos, Gambier Lagoon, Society Islands, Tonga then back down to New Zealand to escape the cyclone season. April found Gloria heading up to Darwin, Australia via the Great Barrier Reef then on through Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand's western islands.
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There she remained for 3 seasons alternating between Indonesia for the dry Tradewinds surfing followed by Langkawi Island and Phuket Island for their dry seasons.
In 2013 she headed south across the Indian Ocean to Rodriguez Island then north west to sail over the top of Madagascar stopping in Noisy Be, a little Island close to Helville, a village on the north west coast then on down the west coast of Madagascar stopping in at a few isolated tribal villages.
The next route took her around the Cape of Good Hope (taking care not to get caught in one of those famous and fierce westerly gales). From Cape Town across the Atlantic, this time with the help of the south east Tradewinds, to beautiful and musical Salvador, Bahia, Brasil.
After a visit and minor repairs to the masthead she enjoyed a fast trip up to the Caribbean again. She arrived rather late in the season so it was time to dodge the Caribbean hurricane season by carrying on to Bermuda, the Azores and on to Western Europe for a spell.
She winds up back in the Caribbean after again cruising the Canary Islands and the Cape Verde islands.
Gloria returned to the Pacific via the Panama Canal in July 2024 and will sail in April 25 to Polynesia in the Marquesas.
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