Hallowe`en (1926), Mariska (1908) and Viola (1908), three works by the legendary Scottish designer, are taking part in the Copa del Rey de Barcos de Época de Mahón.

The Scottish naval architect William Fife III (1857-1944), also known as William Fife Jr., designed around 600 sailing yachts during his lifetime, a third of which are estimated to still be sailing today. Three of them -Hallowe'en (1926), Mariska (1908) and Viola (1908)- are taking part in the XIX Copa del Rey Repsol, the classic yacht race organised by the Club Marítimo de Mahón and a benchmark for vintage sailing in the Mediterranean.

To speak of Fife III is to speak of the search for perfection and its relationship with beauty. The most modern of its sailing boats present in Mahón, the Hallowe'en, owned by Inigo Strez, was launched in 1926 for the second edition of the Fastnet. It was the fastest in the fleet and held the record for the race (3 days, 19 hours and 5 minutes) until 1939, when the Nordwind, the Kriegsmarine's (Nazi Germany's navy) racing boat designed by Henry Graber, appeared on the scene. The mark was reduced, in large part, because the course was changed to a shorter one. 

William Fife III himself called the Hallowe'en "The perfect jewel". It is difficult to say whether she was his favourite - he must have found it impossible to take sides among so many magnificent ships - but he was certainly a fiery eulogist. He could not hide a certain predilection. And no wonder: her sleek lines, the peculiar rounded shape of her stern and her imposing 25-metre length make her one of the most attractive 'big boats' in the vintage fleet.

The boat's current owner, Inigo Strez, says of the validity of this marvellous example: "I don't think Fife could have imagined that these boats would be competing and winning races a century later, or maybe he did? We are fortunate that these boats have survived and to enjoy them and look after them with the aim that other people, 50, 60 or 100 years from now, can continue to do so".

In its heyday, the Hallowe'en used to have Prince Olaf, the future King of Norway, on board. Its almost century-long existence has not been without vicissitudes and dangers. Like so many other sailing ships of her lineage, she was at risk of disappearing, but since the last major restoration she underwent in 2009, carried out in the Scottish shipyards of Failie where she was born, she has maintained the splendour of her early years. A time when extraordinarily audacious projects like this yacht were completed in a time frame that is now unthinkable, as Strez explains: "It's a great feeling to sail a boat that was built almost a century ago in an astonishingly short time, just five months, something that could not be done today, even with modern technology. It just doesn't happen".

The crew of Hallowe'en will be up against the crew of Mariska (1908) in Mahón in the Big Boats category. The latter yacht was also designed by William Fife III in 1908 for the FI 15 class, to which Hispania (1909), Tuiga (1909) and Lady Anne (1912) belong, the only four survivors of that formula that allowed racing in real time.

Mariska was actually the second yacht of the 15-metre class designed and built by Fife Jr. a year after the launch of Shinna in 1907. It was commissioned by A.K. Stothert, a wealthy yacht collector who was not willing to be left out of the group of millionaires and aristocratic yachtsmen, including King Alfonso III and the Duke of Medinacelli.

Nevertheless, the Mariska had a relatively short sporting life in its early years. After changing hands up to five times until 1923, she was transformed from a racing cutter rig to a yawl, first, and then to a ketch rig, both more typical of a recreational boat than a thoroughbred.

Thanks to these transformations and its new uses, however, it managed to survive the two world wars and to reach the 21st century alive, albeit badly wounded and somewhat damaged. In 2001, restoration work began to restore it to its original appearance. Those responsible for its resurrection are the shipwrights Jacques Faroux and his son Nicolas.

Viola, owned by Belkin Kostia, won the Copa del Rey Repsol in 2021, in its first participation in Menorca. William Fife III drew up the plans and personally directed the construction of this 14-metre cutter, which sails on behalf of the Yacht Club de Monaco and competes in the Gaff Vintage category, corresponding to pre-1950 sailboats with trapezoidal rigs.

The boat has passed through the hands of 14 shipowners after undergoing a thorough restoration in 1999. In 1933, France granted her the status of "monument", which in a way guarantees her protection. Her path was the inverse of that of the Mariska: the Viola began as a cruising boat which, by chance and thanks to the impulse of regattas such as the Copa del Rey de Barcos de Época de Mahón, has ended up transformed into a racing yacht. And a very competitive one at that.

Its current owner assures that Viola does not really belong to him and that he is only an heir who has been entrusted with its care and conservation. A sentiment shared by the majority of sea and heritage enthusiasts who are gathering these days with their floating jewels in the port of Mahón.