Clockwise from top: The shiny splendour of Fine
Wooden Boats’ slipper launch; Cornish Crabbers’ little
10ft Limpet; Swallow Yachts’ BayCruiser 26 with its
more affordable Bayraider Expedition beyond itNew Classics
More at classicboat.co.uk/new-classicsTraditional style
at the London
Boat Show
There was, unsurprisingly, something of a
shortage of traditional boats at the recent
London Boat Show, although we did spot a few,
like the 17ft 6in (5.3m) Coastal Weekender from
Character Boats, (c£20,00) looking the part in
simulated clinker build. We’ve always admired
these stout-looking craft with their sprayhoods
and split cockpits when we’ve seen them at
shows. See characterboats.co.uk. Swallow Yachts
brought its new, fairly radical 25ft 9in (7.8m)
BayCruiser 26 (£75,900) and their bestseller, the
20ft (6.1m) BayRaider Expedition (£19,995). See
swallowyachts.com. They were next door to
Cornish Crabbers, who had the 10ft (3.1m) Limpet
(£3,695) and the new Shrimper 21 (£36,300) on
show. See cornishcrabbers.co.uk. Churchouse
Boats had a modified 21ft 9in (6.6m) Longboat
(£16,720) on its stand, and we are really looking
forward to seeing the re-emergence of the very
first lugger soon, being restored by Churchouse.
See drascombe.co.uk. In terms of power, we were
pleased to see that the Slipper Launch that Tom
Neale of Fine Wooden Boats in Cambridgeshire
has been building for the last three “and a bit”
years, is finally finished. She was drawing
admiring glances from a small crowd who came
to um and ah over her 25 layers of varnish and
perhaps over her price tag (around £300,000
+VAT). Everything on the boat seems to be of the
highest quality, from the real gold leaf, to the
internally-lit engine compartment to the handmade,
fixed Italian leather seats, which Tom chose over
the more traditional wicker chairs that are left
unfixed to the sole. See finewoodenboats.co.uk.