The Zenith was followed, in 1927, by the first of James’s 8 meter yachts, the Nona, and in the same year, James commissioned William Fife to construct the first of his two 12-metre yachts, the Rhona.
He sold the Rhona in 1929 and commissioned the ill-fated Lucilla. This time, James chose Charles E. Nicholson to build his new yacht at the yards of Camper & Nicholson Ltd., Gosport, near Portsmouth, England. The Lucilla collided with the cutter Lulworth in its maiden season in 1930, sinking rapidly with the loss of one of her crew. Perhaps this tragedy dampened James’s enthusiasm for the 12 metre class, for he did not replace the Lucilla.
James Lauriston Lewis is known to have owned Rhona, which he sailed from 1927 through 1929, and Lucilla, which he commissioned to replace the Rhona after her sale. However, Lucilla was not destined for an illustrious career as she sank in her maiden season in August 1930 with the loss of one life. Following this tragedy, James appears to have lost interest in the 12 meter class. The data on these two yachts has been collected from numerous sources, including the Lloyd's Register, various yard construction lists, regatta result lists, archived articles of yachting magazines, and notes found on various web sites.
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12er Race
12er Race
James achieved good results with the Rhona, and the 12 Metre Class archive notes that the yacht “… had good results in the 1929 Cowes Week with a third overall placement (first Mouette, second Moyana) and 1 first in one of the six races” (retrieved 16 Dec 2015 )
The Earl of Essex owned the Rhona from 1930 through 1932, and birthed it at Greenwich until he sold it to Arnfinn Heje, a margarine manufacturer from Oslo, Norway, who renamed it the Hei ll with the sail number of 12 N 10. Heje raced the Hei II in the KNS Jubileums regatta in Hanko in July 1933 where she was first in one race, but failed to placed in the subsequent four races.