All that’s left of Undine — the Island’s fastest known racing sloop from the 1800s — is sitting in 50 or so pieces at the Bermuda National Museum in Dockyard.But Barry Brewer, a boat lover and enthusiast, is on a mission to replicate the historic vessel so it can serve as a teaching tool for generations to come.With no building plans, Mr Brewer has had to dig up old pictures, articles and artefacts in a bid to discover how the prize-winning boat was constructed.He has enlisted help from members of the boating community, including Steven Masters — whose family owned the vessel for over 100 years before donating it to the Bermuda National Museum.Anson Nash, Paul Doughty and Alex Davidson have also helped to gather information.Now Mr Brewer is appealing to the wider community to help him save an important part of our maritime history.“The information is dying with past generations,” he said. “That’s part of what we hope we can do is encourage people to share what information they’ve got.”Undine is believed to have been constructed sometime between 1808 and 1830. She was owned by a number of military officers before finally landing in Bermudian hands in 1884.The vessel is considered one of the Island’s greatest racers of her day and was called “the most durable boat in competitive sailing in Bermuda” by JC Arnell in 1984 in his book, influential book, ‘Sailing in Bermuda: Sail Racing in the Nineteenth Century’.Mr Brewer said the boat was raced during a time when sailing was at the forefront of local culture.“There were no televisions or motorboat races back then. It was about going to church and then races that were either in your canoes or rowing skiffs, or these sail boats, pre-fitted dinghy sail boats. There was money [involved] and everyone would bet on them.“Most of the crews were black because they had the most experience in the fishing and piloting and they were the best sailors [of that time].”When he started the research project three years ago Mr Brewer had no idea whether there would be enough information to piece the sloop back together.It’s believed about 40 percent of the boat is missing, but the plan is to lay it all out to affirm what the measurements are and get a better understanding of how it was built.Mr Brewer has already exhausted his social circle for information and made a public appeal on advertising site emoo.com.He said: “We are trying to see if there is anyone out there who has kept memorabilia about those early days of 1880s and 1890s when photography was first getting started, about the Undine that would help us understand how the foredecks and topsides were constructed.”He hopes they will gather enough information by the end of this year so the research side is over. The next step will be figuring out how to get the project funded, which is estimated to cost around $150,000.The last part of the equation will be deciding how to make it available to as many people as possible “so it celebrates who we are”, Mr Brewer said.“There are other people that we know are interested in similar-type projects and if we inspire them maybe within the next 20 years we have four or five of them, so when you go out in the evening you say ‘Wow, Bermuda made the most unbelievably gorgeous boats’ — and they did.”Mr Brewer has nearly two decades of experience in this kind of restoration work. Back in 1993, he spent nearly 2,000 hours bringing the last remaining Bermuda cedar picnic boat, Larkspur back to life.Since then he has taken on a number of boats and repaired them in his yard.He took on this particular project in a bid to find a stable mate for Shamrock, the last remaining inter-Island sloop built in Bermuda.During his research he stumbled on Dr Arnell’s book which listed the boat’s measurements, along with other important details.He soon learned the boat had belonged to Mr Masters’ great, great grandfather, Samuel Alexander Masters.Mr Masters, an artist and teacher at Saltus, said the boat played an important part in his childhood. Undine’s beauty, shape, texture and colour also inspired much of his art work.He said it was an honour to be included in the project and praised Mr Brewer for his work. “Barry has included me in a project that is basically his and he has taken all of the responsibility and is doing all the work.“But he has chosen to include me because he knows it meant something to me and my family’s history, so that’s a gift. That collaborative behaviour is unique, special and rare.”Though the project is hard work, Mr Brewer said it was also a really fascinating undertaking.“Instead of me working on fibreglass boats, which is fun, this is about building and celebrating our history. Before I worked in the insurance industry I was in shipping.“My family’s business has been in shipping for five generations. I am a Bailey’s Bay Darrell. My children are 13th generation Bermudian, so shipping and boats have been in my life forever.“So to me this was an opportunity. I see all the boats becoming modern, I see all the wooden boats disappearing, along with part of our heritage and understanding.”The replica project falls under the auspices of the Bermuda National Museum.For more information or to pass on photographs or other details about Undine visit Mr Brewer’s blog: http://blog.lookbermuda.com/undine-project.