The motor vessel in the view above is a 75-foot launch named ‘Interceptor’ and she was built by J.I. Thornycroft on the Thames and launched in 1965 for the Ford Motor Company as an executive launch. I served part of my boatbuilding apprenticeship with my mentors building this lovely vessel and I was delighted to see her at the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations in 2012. She had recently had a major structural overhaul by Tough’s boatyard in Teddington and looked as good as the day we launched her.
She has double-diagonal mahogany planking fastened to mahogany frames and laminated mahogany chines. The bottom was sheathed with a new product at the time called Cascover which was a fine nylon fabric bonded to the hull using cascophen adhesive. The deck and superstructure are constructed from solid Burma teak and the interior joinery constructed of Rosewood. She is fitted with a pair of Ford Interceptor engines driving two bronze propellers through ‘V’ drive gearboxes.
Hot & Cold-Moulded Construction Another construction method which has also been around for many decades, the process for either method is virtually the same except that for hot-moulding, a hull is placed in a large autoclave to cure the resins used to bond the wood veneers at very high temperatures. Fairey Marine Ltd on the Hamble pioneered the system during the late 1950s and early 1960s for building a new design of fast offshore cruising and racing boats and many of the latter were highly successful during the early Cowes to Torquay powerboat races.
Two of Fairey Marine’s designs that were very popular were the 23-foot Fairey Huntress and the 28-foot Huntsman. Many examples of both boats are still around and much sought after. I have surveyed six boats this year alone and have overseen the restoration of three of the six.
The Fairey Huntress in particular was favoured by the Royal Navy as a ship’s Captain’s pinnace and many were kept onboard Frigates and Destroyers for this purpose and launched when the need arose.
An original Royal Navy Huntress above being restored and in commission during the 1960s or 70s. The construction of the hulls was quite a complex procedure as a male mould had to be built to the inner profile of the design to which the mahogany veneers were attached and held in place by a large rubber bag designed to withstand the extreme temperatures. The specification for the Navy’s Huntresses was higher than those sold to the general public with five mahogany veneers fitted to the topsides and six veneers added to the bottom. After the hull was cured in the autoclave, it was wheeled out of the oven and, after a period left for cooling, the completed shell of the hull was removed from the mould and righted in order to fit bulkheads, frames, stringers and engine bearers. The external hull was fitted with four spray rails on each side and chine-rails to deflect spray and for protection of the chine.
There are of course many other types of construction used in wooden boatbuilding around the world but the list written in these pages are by far the most common you are likely to come across.
Strip-plank construction is a growing method and Spirit Yachts in Ipswich have had great success over the last twenty five years with their designs which are now
becoming even larger. The latest yacht from Spirit which is currently in-build is a 111-footer and it is well worth you having a look at the yacht being built on their website.
60 | The Report • December 2018 • Issue 86
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92
