‘Iolanthe’ as her original ‘Brownie’ Northern Whig, 15th June 1907 
Belfast News-Letter, Destruction of Iolanthe, 20th September 1916 
North Down Herald and County Down Independent, Destruction of Iolanthe, 22nd September 1916 
Earliest known Fairy photo, ‘Iolanthe,’ which was then named ‘Brownie’ can be seen in the forefront of the picture. Courtesy of Donald McMeekin’s ‘Fairy Class: A Short Story, 1902-2012’
‘Iolanthe’ was the 4th of the RNIYC boats commissioned and joined the club in 1902. Formerly named ‘Brownie,’ she was renamed in 1907. She carries the name of the Fairy character Iolanthe from the titular comic opera by Arthur Sullivan and W.S. Gilbert. The boat had a successful career in the early day of the class until the war when all club sailing was suspended. Disaster came in 1916 when the boat was lost to the sea. It has been reported that the boat was burnt in a fire in 1912, but contemporary accounts tell us that the boat was lost in a heavy gale 4 years later. The deck is described as being ‘torn away’, the swells claimed the rest to the bottom of the lough. Iolanthe would sadly not be the first Fairy to be lost. Her sail number would later be adopted by ‘Pixie.’
| Date | Owners |
| 1902 | Dr T.K. Greenfield |
| 1906 | A. Watson & J. McCaughey |
| 1907 | Messrs Cooke, Cooke & Kelly |
| 1907 | Renamed ‘Iolanthe’ |
| 1910 | E. Cooke & F. Cooke |
| 1916 | Sunk in a heavy gale, completely wrecked and declared a total loss. |
Fairy Class Yacht Association 