ANOTHER glamorous lady has been visiting Dartmouth.

The SS Brigitte Bardot was berthed in the river at the weekend.

Owned by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, the boat was built specifically to break the round the world record for a powerboat. She succeeded and took the honour when she arrived in Gibraltar on July 3, 1998, after circumnavigating the globe in 74 days, 20 hours and 58 minutes beating the previous record held by a US submarine.

During her record attempt she was known as The Adventurer and was sponsored by Cable and Wireless.

One of the crew members on that record crossing 17 years ago was Gary Walker, who now lives in South Town, Dart­mouth.

He has shared some of his photographs of the boat taken at that time.

‘The record has since been broken and a further attempt is, I understand, being made next year,’ he said. ‘She was designed by the naval architect Nigel Irens, who lives in the South Hams.

‘The requirement for a round the world record attempt is that the boat must go through the Suez and Panama canals, apart from that the route can be determined by the organisers of the attempt.

‘Her visit to Dartmouth was unscheduled as she was taking refuge from bad weather in the channel.’