You-You Swims Again

Text and photographs by Christopher Rheault

At beginning of restoration, removed planks were broken and rotting from storage.

Top Photo: Inner layers of the hull taped for 3D scanning. All of the planking was replaced but deckbeams and other structural components were retained.

One of the many wonderful things about living in Maine is being in the heart of the wooden boat construction and restoration world; seeing amazing creations being crafted out of local wood is a frequent occurrence. But when the owner of a local boat shop called recently it was because he would be firing up the engine of a Bugatti.

Many readers know of the naval oddity that is the You-You boat, a somewhat typically whimsical creation of Ettore Bugatti in his latter years. Many ABC members have seen the “long wheelbase” model on display at the Mullin Museum. There were in fact three lengths designed of 2.8, 3.3 and 4 meters. They were to be powered by a 300 cc (170 cc, ed.) single cylinder Type 75 engine, mounted far forward in the bow.

Left photo: The transom and bulkhead were kept. The small opening in the bulkhead provides access to the engine for operations and servicing. Removal of engine is through a deck hatch.
Right: Finished boat, in front of a Herreshoff 12 1/2 in for annual service.

Bugatti produced a beautifully illustrated brochure for the You-You and even constructed a full- scale cutaway half-model, now part of the Musée National de l’Automobile Collection Schlumpf. Documentation suggests that only three prototypes— numbered 120, 121, and presumably 122—were ever completed, each marked on its keelson just aft of the propeller aperture.

Around 1980, renowned yachtsman Tom Perkins discovered the smallest of the prototypes, the 2.8-meter You-You, suspended from the rafters - possibly abandoned by Bugatti's team after being deemed too small for practical use. Perkins had the boat transported to Dick Crosthwaite’s yard in England, where a decade-long effort rendered her barely operational.
For the next thirty years, You-You accompanied Perkins aboard several of his distinguished yachts, including the 289-foot Maltese Falcon and later the 122-foot Alfred Mylne motorsailer Atlantide.

Left photo: Raw water intake and strainer for the cooling system.
Right: Engine as seen from above. The glass box has zinc in water to prevent electrolysis. This and the addition of a starter motor were the two alterations made from Ettore’s original design, which used a small hand crank.

Atlantide changed hands in 2020 and underwent a major rebuild at Royal Huisman's Huisfit facility in the Netherlands; and You-You was entrusted to Artisan Boatworks in Rockport, Maine for a comprehensive restoration.

By this time, years of exposure and heavy coatings of two-part paint had left the hull and stem beyond repair.

With exceptional craftsmanship and historical sensitivity, Artisan Boatworks reconstructed the hull from the keel up, carefully integrating all preserved original components. The engine was dispatched to Leydon Restorations in Pennsylvania. An initial servicing revealed the unit to be so unbalanced it bounced all over the shop, thus explaining the very short nature of Perkins’ one outing decades ago.

With a complete top to bottom rebuild, the engine when reinstalled in You-You ran more smoothly than the proverbial sewing machine. The diminutive nature of the vessel makes her use somewhat limited, but being used is now a possibility.

Left to right: Staff firing the engine for the first time in boat; running light; builder's plate.