Alexander Robertson & Sons

Once upon a time, in a place called Sandbank in Scotland, there was a special boatyard called Alexander Robertson & Sons. It started way back in 1876, when your great-great-grandparents might have been kids! This boatyard was super famous for building beautiful wooden boats.

They were so good that people from all over wanted their boats made there. It was like the best toy shop, but for real boats that sailed on the water!

Robertson's boatyard didn't just build any old boats. In the early 1900s, they started building fancy racing yachts. These weren't small rowboats; they were big, sleek boats designed to race super fast!

Some of these boats were so special they were called 'Metre Class' boats. Imagine a race car, but it's a boat that glides through the water. Robertson's built some of the very first of these amazing racing machines.

During World War I and World War II, Robertson's boatyard helped out in important ways. They built fast boats for the navy that were used to protect the country. Even when times were tough, like during the Great Depression, people still loved yacht racing, and Robertson's kept building beautiful boats. They built over 55 boats for the war and kept busy even when money was tight for others.

Even though the boatyard closed in 1980, the amazing boats that Alexander Robertson & Sons built are still around! They built a total of 482 numbered boats during their 104 years of business. Many of these boats are still sailing on the water today, which shows how well they were made. It’s like finding a really old, super cool toy that still works perfectly!