Capt. Alex Greenson (second from right) and his crew finish the first phase of the refit of S/Y Tiziana , which left the shed at the Vitters Shipyard in late April.   The rest of the crew are, from left, full-time refit dayworker Darren Monk, Chef Nivea Panequar, First Mate Tom Glanville and Eng. Dean Filewood. PHOTO COURTESY OF CAPT. ALEX GREENSON

By Lucy Chabot Reed

Like a new tulip bud, S/Y Tiziana emerged from a Holland shipyard shed in mid-April ready to bloom. Tiziana is the former S/Y Aspasia Alpha , a well-known yacht in the Mediterranean . Designed by Sparkman & Stephens and built by Abeking & Rasmussen in 1963 for Fiat Chairman Gianni Agnelli, the 11 7 -foot (35.6m) yacht was originally named Tiziana and cruised the Med in the 1950s and 1960s. The new owner – just the yacht's third – is Conrado Dornier of Germany . He bought her in March 2005 and changed the name back to Tiziana .

The 43-year-old classic ketch is expected to be in charter service in the Med by the end of July, said her captain, Alex Greenson.

"She's got those great lines with the long overhang on the stern," Greenson said. "She's lovely."

The past year has been a busy one. Mr. Dornier hired Capt. Greenson last spring to refit the 11 7 -foot (35.6m) yacht. Greenson has experience with classic yachts, including being build captain on the 139-foot schooner America , captain of a 100-foot Camper & Nicholsons classic ketch built in 1939, and captain of the former presidential yacht Sequoia .

When Mr. Dornier told Capt. Greenson of his plans to refit the yacht, "my response to this was, ‘You've got the right guy,'" Greenson said.

"We spent last summer putting together the refit specification, and then set out to find the right yard to do the job," he said.

After considering five yards, Greenson and Jens Cornelsen, a technical and financial consultant, selected Vitters Shipyard in Holland , which had a vacancy in its build schedule and slipped the yacht right in.

Louis Hamming, a principal of Vitters, made an initial inspection of the yacht in July 2005, Greenson said, and in September, Jan Vitters went to Palma de Mallorca to have a look at the yacht and do a more thorough inspection of the technical aspects of the yacht, which included the engine room, electrical systems, rig, accommodation spaces, and the hull, Greenson said.

"It was after this visit from Jan Vitters, the other owner of Vitters, that we made our decision to come to Holland ," Greenson said. "It was the best decision. The entire team at Vitters is great, an absolute pleasure to work with. They have done a great job. This is typical of Dutch yacht builders."

What started out as a refit has turned into a complete rebuild. There was "considerable corrosion" in the steel hull so more than 40 square yards of metal plating was replaced, Greenson said. She's been completely rewired and replumbed, too.

Originally, she had a central helm position, but in this refit, it was moved to the aft deck to open the cockpit.

The entire cap rail was replaced to treat the corrosion, two fuel tanks were added as were two new Northern Lights generators.

The engine was replaced with a more powerful one and the exhaust system, too, was replaced.

She'll have a bow thruster and the wheel house will have new radar with ARPA, a 1 7 -inch flat screen monitor for charts, new wind instruments and hydraulic winches.

The yacht still has two months of interior work at the yard and expects to be available for charter in the Med by the end of July.

With room for 10 guests in five staterooms, she will run with a crew of six. (Greenson said he still needs a "dynamic" stew to work with a steward/deckhand who can handle the relatively small accommodations.)

"It really should be a seven-person boat," Greenson said. "But we'll all have to do our part and that comes down to me opening a bottle of wine and mixing drinks when I need to."

At 5 p.m. on April 20 as The Triton was going to press, Tiziana left the shed. After the Med season, she's expected to head to the Caribbean next winter, including the charter show in Antigua in early December.

Contact Editor Lucy Chabot Reed at lucy@the-triton.com.

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