But it is amazing what can be achieved with a carefully considered refit and a whole lot of passion.

Blue Goose is a classic timber harbour vessel built in 1927 from the Fellows & Stewart yard in San Pedro, California.

She was built to withstand the buffeting of waves during channel races, and was designed to be seaworthy and dry when running at full speed through a choppy sea.

With a narrow 3.3-metre beam, and originally weighing 15 tonnes, she may have been conceived for performance, but she wasn't lacking in little luxuries.

Her interior was finished with rare Cuban mahogany and gold fittings.

Since being commissioned by ET Wall, it has travelled all points of the globe, to wind-up in Sydney under the care of Australian Olympic sailor and property developer Denis O'Neil.

The O'Neil family brought her to Australia after finding her in Canada, where she had fallen into disrepair after an ill-fated refit.

"Dad found her laying in a vacant lot on Vancouver Island," Ned O'Neil, Denis's son, says.

"She was in awful condition, sitting disused in a paddock with a few tarps strapped over the top, and with several holes in the hull and rot throughout.

"Planks of wood had been nailed to the hull to stop animals getting in."

Blue Goose needed a lot of love when she arrived in Sydney, and Gavin Clarke of Slipstream Marine undertook the essential repairs in a shed in Alexandria.

However, over time her mahogany superstructure started to degrade in Sydney's humidity.

After a complete rethink, the O'Neils decided to embark on a journey that would give her a much-needed restoration.

At the beginning of 2018, Ned O'Neil contacted 'Black' Joe Akacich, owner of BlackPond Consultants.

Akacich was in shock when he first saw the boat.

"She was in near-irrecoverable condition," he says.

"To return her to her original design was just not practical, nor would she have been effectively useable.

"But, the O'Neils have an amazing eye and mind for what would be practical and economically viable."

The restoration took 6400 hours to complete.

The first step was to remove sections of the timber superstructure, which were replaced with open decks featuring ample seating and day beds.

As the Cuban mahogany used for her original timber is now extinct, teak was used.

Blue Goose was also completely rewired and her onboard systems were replaced with modern materials in simple configurations, brought up to date but not too dissimilar from what would have been found on board originally.

"During her initial repair work, Gavin Clark dried her out and Dynel-sheathed her, so we took her back to that and we removed, rebuilt and re-sheathed any failed areas," Akacich says.

"Most of the hull structure was from the original build back in 1927.

"That said, the harder-turned areas of the bilge and the harder-working areas such as rudder and tiller table - as well as all areas which had evidence of water ponding - needed to be replaced or partnered with new timbers."

After eight months of painstaking labour, she emerged from GCCM's enclosed refit shed in November renewed, refitted and restored.

The refit may have cost more than $A600,000, but there can be little doubt that preserving something so special is priceless.

Although modified as much by necessity as by design into an open dayboat, the revived Blue Goose is perfect for Sydney Harbour.

Her beautiful, classical lines remain intact, and, although the yacht is already an incredible 92 years old, the restoration will help her become a centenarian.