‘Petrel’ was an enigma for many years, having not been built for either of the two Fairy clubs as well as displaying a number of design and build characteristics that differed from her earlier sisters. We eventually discovererd through our own research, that ‘Petrel,’ much like her counterpart, ‘Mousme’ (built as a yawl cruiser on Fairy lines), was commissioned as an additional one-off yacht, outside of the main fleets belonging to the RNIYC and EYC. The yacht was the 26th and last Fairy Class yacht constructed by John Hilditch, of Carrickfurgus. Ordered, in 1908, by Captain Graham Robert Wynne and delivered to the Sligo Rowing & Yachting Club, the following year, ‘Petrel’ was planned as the first of a fleet of Fairy Class yachts for this club located on the west of Ireland. The records show that the Wynnes of Clogherevagh were one of the long established Anglo-Irish famlies of County Sligo. Capt. Wynne owned the yacht until her sale in 1923. ‘Petrel’ was purchased by Major General Harry Thompson and brought to Lough Erne as an additional Fairy for the EYC fleet. She was repainted light blue, from her original hull colour of emerald green, in order that she would not be confused with Strom sail No.1 which was painted at that time in dark green. Oddly, ‘Petrel’ appears to have been allocated sail No.12 which had been ‘Fay’s’ up until this point and the latter was moved to No.9 which had been ‘Psyche’s’ number before she left for the RNIYC in 1911. It is not known why this was done as logic would dictate No.9 being vacant would be allocated to ‘Petrel’ while ‘Fay’ would keep No.12. ‘Petrel’ would be a successful late entrant to the EYC and was helmed by several club members before ending up in the ownership of Benny B. Stuart in the 1960s. Stuart undertook a major refit and sailed the yacht until the late 1980s. From this point ‘Petrel’ was laid up for several years, in need of complete restoration. The Louden-Brown family took ownership in 2007 and carried out a complete rebuild, keeping as much of her original timbers as possible. The work also included returning her hull to the original emerald green paint scheme, her original colour as built in 1908. The yacht successfully took to the waters again in late May of 2021 and came through her first season with flying colours. She is currently going through maintenance ahead of the 2022 season. Her extensive restoration can be viewed here.
| Date | Owners/Sailors |
| 1909 | Captain Graham Robert Wynne |
| 1923 | Major General Harry Thompson |
| 1925 | Miss Marcia Stack |
| 1926 | Mr Ernest Lemon |
| 1928 | Mr R.E. Lemon |
| 1939 | Marquis of Ely, Lord Loftus |
| 1940-48 | Ownership uncertain |
| 1949 | Miss N. Cooper & Mr I. Cooper |
| 1950 | M.B. Hughes |
| 1952 | C. J. Davison |
| 1960s-2002 | Benny B. Stuart |
| 2002 | Joey Kelly |
| 2007 | Paul Louden-Brown |
| 2015-Present | Conor Louden-Brown |
Fairy Class Yacht Association 