A spectacular sailing ship which is over 100 years old and has featured in famous movies has been spotted sailing by the Firth of Clyde this afternoon.

The Eye of the Wind is a more than 100 year old sailing ship with a unique past.

Eddie Williams of the Largs and Millport Camera Club captured the above photo of the historic vessel with its beautiful sails passing Hunterston 'A'.

Today, the ship is operated by a young, friendly, and experienced international crew. Their sailing areas are the North Sea, the Baltic Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, the North Atlantic, and the Caribbean Sea. 

Eye of the Wind, originally called Friedrich, was built in 1911 in Germany for the South American hide trade.

In 1923, she was sold to Sweden and carried general cargo under the name Merry.

During the 1970s she was fitted out as a brigantine in Faversham, Kent and circumnavigated the globe as her first voyage as 'Eye of the Wind'.

She has since appeared in many films including Blue Lagoon (Brooke Shields), Savage Islands (Tommy Lee Jones), Taipan (Bryan Brown) and as the ill-fated Albatross in White Squall (Jeff Bridges, and directed by Ridley Scott). Eye of the Wind raced in all five races of Tall Ships 2000.

Under the patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Charles, the Eye of the Wind had the honour of being the flagship for "Operation 'Drake." in 1978. 

More than 400 crew members took part from 27 different countries in this almost two-year expedition in the footsteps of the famous explorer and scientist Sir Francis Drake.

Nowadays, The Eye of the Wind is owned and operated by FORUM train & sail GmbH, an enterprise of Forum Media Group.