Colin Archer Gaff Boats Review and Specs

Year: 1936  
Manufacturer: Wooden Ships
Price: £215,000
(US$337,529)  

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Length on deck 43?6? LWL 37.9? Beam 14.3? Draft 6.5? Thames tonnage 32TM The Norwegian designer, Colin Archer, is famed particularly for his double-ender life-boats or Redningskoite. In his life-time ? he died in 1921 ? he became one of the most famous marine architects the world has seen, celebrated in his own country and abroad, an inspiration to many designers since, yet he was self-taught. His designs included yachts, fishing boats, pilot boats and larger ships like the famous Fram which Nansen locked into the Polar ice. Colin Archer designs inspired many of the great designers and produced some of the best-known cruising yachts. One thinks of Robin Knox-Johnson and Suhaili, Wm Atkin in the USA, the remarkable Ehrling Tambs with Teddy and Paul Johnson with his Venus ketch range of double enders. His middle name was Ehrling, he was brought up on this yacht owned by his parents for so many years and she proved to be the inspiration for his own designs. David Robertson had sailed long distances in the first Escape, a 23 ton yacht designed by Colin Archer in 1896 as a sailing life-boat, had become convinced of the viability of Colin Archer?s designs and wanted his next boat to be a larger version as a sailing home. He commissioned the London marine architect, Wm McC. Meek to refine the designs of the first Colin Archer Escape and enlarge them to become the 32ton second Escape now offered for sale. He knew and admired K Christensen who had a small yard in Moens close to Risor in Norway and engaged him to build the yacht. (As he said at the time, Christensen was also one third of the price of building in UK). She was launched in 1936. The design is a classic Colin Archer though perhaps a fraction less in the beam and a little finer below the waterline and was built to scantlings 25% in excess of Lloyds Rules. After the war she came into the ownership of Mr and Mrs Edward Spencer Johnson. She spent many years laid up afloat on the Hamble River as the Johnson?s home. On his death and with Mrs Johnson unable to live aboard by herself, Escape was sold in 2003 by Wooden Ships on behalf of the family to Mr John Charles. When his health failed before he was able to start refitting, she was sold again by Wooden Ships to the present owner, a Scottish helicopter pilot. She was put ashore at Universal on the Hamble and lay there for a couple of seasons while arrangements were made for her refit. She was moved by road to Lowestoft where she underwent a major rebuild at the IBTC Commercial Boatyard in Lowestoft, to be relaunched in 2008. She sailed back to Risor that season, returning to UK and in 2009 sailed to her present berth in Scotland. Planked in Norwegian red pine with larch used for the new planking used in the refit. The back-bone, stem and stern post beam shelves and stringers are Norwegian oak. A new English oak stem was fitted in the refit. There are 28 frames in all, made up of Norwegian oak in grown futtocks totalling 8? x 5? at 18? centres leaving a gap of only 10? between the frames.. Floors are grown oak. The planking is fastened to the frames using 1? juniper trennels with oak wedges. Long, external iron ballast keel with oak dead-woods at either end. New keel bolts in the refit. Grown oak floors across the centre-line. The deck was relaid in the refit using iroko, straight-laid, caulked and payed. The cover boards are varnished iroko. Most of the oak deck beams are original, finished varnished. The bulwarks are carried on short 4? x 4? oak stanchions mounted on the cover-boards in cast bronze shoes to eliminate any possibility of the leaks and rot so common in this area. The capping rail is original in teak, swept down to the deck forward and aft in typical Colin Archer fashion. The bulwark is formed by a single plank, open above and below to allow water on dec

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Fuel  Hull Material  Number of Engines

Diesel Wood 1

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Contact Information

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+44 (0)1803 833899 +44 (0)1803 833899

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