A yacht called Alice

Nicholas Bielby had always had a yen for steel-hulled yachts, so when the opportunity came up to own one that had survived being hit by a tanker, he couldn't resist developing her as a comfortable, family cruiser

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Sharp-edged, shark-like, strongly constructed, and with a colourful history, the yacht we would call Alice Fouché caught our interest and captured our imagination from day one. It was enough to make me abandon the steel Tahitiana (a design based on John G Hanna's famous Tahiti ketch) that I had started building, in favour of owning this unique boat which was ready to go.

A little under 38ft, so large enough to accommodate the family, but manageable when it would just be me and my wife, she had an impressive blue water record and an intriguing specification.

To the best of our knowledge, she was a one-off and her history was equally fascinating, as we would soon discover.

Called a Steelbird 38, she was completed in 1975 in Genoa, Italy, registered as Neola, and was soon - we were told - being used for cocaine smuggling between Venezuela and Venice. At some point, she was sold, in Gibraltar, to a female English TV director, when we believe she first became British registered and acquired a new name, Kiwi Star. We've no idea why she was registered to Hull - as far as we know, she's never been there - but perhaps a short name was cheaper to get painted on the transom! Sometime later she acquired new owners again, and so the director had nothing to do with her subsequent nefarious adventures.

Drug smuggling history

Kiwi Star first came to the attention of the British authorities when a tanker in the English Channel reported a collision at night with a yacht showing no lights.