St Pierre et Miquelon issued one stamp in 2019 which depict the Tall Ship RARA AVIS, who regularly made stopovers on the islands.
Built as a steel hulled 3 masted Bermuda schooner rigged sailing yacht by the shipyard of De Klerk in Terneuzen, Netherlands for the wealthy American banker and yachtsman Paul L. Hammond, New York. Hammond was also part owner of the J-Class America yacht WHIRLWIND.
She was designed by Philip Rhodes and based after the lines of a Thames barge.
Launched as RARA AVIS which means a rare bird.
Tonnage 198 grt, displacement 147 ton. Dim. 30.00 x 7.0 x 1.50m. (draught)
Sail area 500 square meters.
Crew 5.
1957 Completed. Homeport Oyster Bay, Long Island, USA.
Hammond wanted to have a private yacht for use in shallow waters. She has a flat bottom. Two axially arranged centre leeboards prevent drifting when sailing in deeper waters. By using the center boards she had a draught of 4.00m.
She was later sold to the Frenchman Georges Lillaz, owner of the Bazar de L’Hotel de Ville in Paris, who used her as a private yacht. He donated the RARA AVIS in 1973 to l’Association les Amis de Jeudi Dimanche du Pére Michel Jaouen in Paris.
By this foundation, she was used by young offenders and drug addicts to find a way to reintegrate.
With a crew of 5 and 35 trainees, she was sailing in the summer time in the French coastal waters while during the winter you could find her in the Caribbean.
From 1998 till 2002 she underwent a restoration in Aber-Wrac’h, the work was carried out by 58 trainees under supervision of skilled craftsmen.
After completing she took part in the Cutty Sark Race of the Tall Ships from Brest in 2002.
2019 In service, same name and owner.
Source: Great Sailing Ships of the World by Otmar Schäuffelen. Wikipedia and Internet.
St Pierre et Miquelón 2019 1.05 Euro sg?, scott?