LANGUISHING in a broker's yard sat a sad lowly bow section of a boat once famously wrecked.

It was none other than one of Sir Edward Heath's Morning Clouds - which was destroyed during a terrible storm in 1974, claiming the lives of two men.

Morning Cloud III sank during Force 9 gales close to Selsey Bill, en route to Crouch in Essex, on September 2.

Crew members Christopher Chadd, who was Sir Edward's godson, and Nigel Cumming tragically drowned.

In a strange twist of fate, the same severe weather tore Sir Edward's first Morning Cloud off her moorings in Jersey, wrecking her too.

Owslebury resident and Isle of Wight sailing business owner, Sally Tattersall, bought the bow and, being a member of the Friends of Arundells in Salisbury, offered it on permanent loan to the Trustees of the Sir Edward Heath Charitable Foundation, which manages Arundells - Sir Edward's home - in the Cathedral Close.

Restoration work, funded by the Friends, was carried out by James Dickens Marine and completed by Clare Lallow at Hythe Marina - the yard where the yacht was originally constructed in 1973.

At a recent ceremony, four time Olympic gold medallist Sir Ben Ainslie officially unveiled the renovated yacht, in the gardens of Arundells - which will now serve as a memorial to Mr Chadd and Mr Cumming.

Sir Edward was the only British Prime Minister to win an international sporting trophy - winning the Admiral's Cup, the equivalent of the sailing World Cup of its time for Britain in 1971.