MAYFLY17
boatbuilding college, he enrolled in a cabinet-making
course at the Central Liverpool College of Further
Education to secure a City & Guilds qualification
which added depth to his training. In 1988, Hardy
Marine offered Chris the chance to realise his dream of
building boats in Norfolk and embark on a journey
that led, 26 years later, to the establishment of his own
business a stone’s-throw from Potter Heigham.
Rather than follow the easy route of simply
replicating Kathleen’s proven design, Chris was
determined to create a new launch with a distinct
identity. But the production of the hull moulding
offered little scope to achieve this. Apart from the
switch to GRP, the only significant changes to be made
to the hull were the addition of a rope fender and the
replacement of the stern-hung rudder with one below
the waterline to enable stern-on mooring. In contrast,
the development of the top moulding, cockpit layout
and wooden screens provided Chris with the
opportunity to firmly stamp his own mark on the newKathleen, above,
was the basis for
the modern
boat’s lines (main
picture)(numbers 6 and 9) still available on either a daily or
weekly basis, while Kathleen 1 and Miss Potter are laid
up at the yard awaiting their turn to be restored.
The development of Miss Potter’s latest descendent
occurred entirely by chance when Alan May and Chris
Edmondson’s former business partner struck up a
conversation about their trucks, which moved on to
the subject of classic river launches. When Alan
learned that the two boatbuilders were trying to find
the right design for their new business, he suggested
that they should come across to his family’s boatyard
where he might have something suitable. “The moment
I saw Kathleen 10’s hull suspended from the boatshed’s
roof I knew this was the boat for us,” Chris said. They
later struck a deal with the May family to take a GRP
mould from the hull of Kathleen 10 for use with a new
deck moulding. As these plans took shape Chris took
on sole responsibility for the project when his business
partner decided to pursue alternative interests.
Although Mayfly 17 is the first boat to be developed
and built by Chris Edmondson in his own right, he has
clocked up several years of boatbuilding experience
working for boatyards across the Broads on a range of
projects from GRP Essex Smacks to luxury motor
cruisers, wooden motor launches, and classic Broads
yachts, as well as specialist plug and mould work.
Originally from Lancashire, his passion for boat
building was sparked by childhood boating holidays
on the Broads and the sight of traditionally styled
motor cruisers being built in Wroxham for the Ernest
Collins hire fleet in the late 1970s. On leaving school
Chris secured a five-year apprenticeship at Douglas
Boatyard in Hesketh Bank near Preston which
specialised in wooden trawlers. In the absence of a