CLYDEBUILT boat The Second Snark has been snapped up by a billionaire businessman and left Greenock to set sail for a new life.

The much loved cruiser will be used as a support vessel for a racing yacht, based on the French Riviera and Rhode Island in the US.

Owners Clyde Marine Services retired her from service two years ago and have been trying to find the right buyer ever since.

Built in 1938 as a tug and tender, she was for many years a familiar sight on the water, taking day trippers on leisure cruises.

Clyde Marine managing director Hamish Munro said: “This really is great news.

“It was really important to us that we found the right buyer for The Second Snark.

“We wanted someone who had an appreciation for traditional vessels. 

“I didn’t want to sell her on and find her abandoned somewhere in a couple of years.

“She really was built to last and with the kind of care she will get, The Second Snark will still be around at 100.

“In its day Clyde shipbuilding really was the very best.”

The Second Snark left Victoria Harbour at the weekend after she was bought by a US businessman who races yachts.

She will undergo a refit and then be used as a mother ship, ferrying a 50ft racing yacht from Newport across the Atlantic and providing a base for the crew.

The Second Snark will be based on the Côte d’Azur for some of the year.

Family firm Clyde Marine bought the vessel nearly 50 years ago, using her for leisure cruises.

Hamish said: “People want something different now.

“The climate has changed and we don’t get the summers we used to.

“People want to be inside and covered up and she’s no longer suitable for that.”

Clyde Marine skipper Lawrence McMillan, aged 69, started working with the company at the same time The Second Snark arrived in 1969.

He said: “She was a lovely boat to sail and is well built with a real history.

“She will be missed.”

The Second Snark was built by Denny’s in Dumbarton as a tug and tender vessel.

She was later used in pioneering research to test ship stabilisers.

Family-run Clyde Marine Services, which started operating in 1913, bought her for cruises in the sea lochs.

From their headquarters in Victoria Harbour they continue to run operations in the Caledonian Canal and Aberdeen as well as the Clyde, with their state-of-the-art Clyde Clipper part of the fleet.