Past projects

Very little was known about this one, but she has the look of a retired fishing boat, in heavy clinker build, partially glassed on the outside of the hull. She's been used as a liveboard in latter years, the good beam and deep body combining to create a surprisingly usable space for one or a couple. Alas, rot was too far advanced for economical repair, and Aquamarine had to advise the client to abort the surey and the purchase.

The Explorer Elite is a solid little single-skin GRP 'fast fisher' of 16ft, just a 400kg shell with high freeboard, an open-backed wheelhouse and a 60hp outboard. The survey of this example was undertaken in Brighton for a customer moving to the East Sussex coast and hoping for days out and some fishing, something this no-nonsense boat should excel at – and with a nice turn of speed, too. 

The Heard 28s are a venerable breed, royalty to those who love a rock-solid boat with workboat ancestry, solid glass build, and traditional looks and rig. It was first built in GRP on the lines of a wooden, Percy Dalton-designed oyster dredger in the late 60s by Terry Heard of Gaffers and Luggers in Mylor, Cornwall. Over 100 have now been built by Terry and in turn his son Martin and grandson Sam. Not much wrong with this one, but when you have a 28ft yacht weighing 8 tonnes, there's room for error!  (Apologies for photograph)

Don't believe everything you hear about Bennys. This example, from 1986, was very dry and still a nice yacht forty years after her launch in 1986. The First 305 was designed broadly in the manner of a half-ton class racing yacht by the French designer Jean Berret and went into production in 1984/5. Her ratios (Sail Area: Displacement of

16.13, Ballast: Displacement of 36.11, Displacement: Length of 192.23) paint the picture of a moderate cruiser/racer with a slight bias towards light displacement. The class was a great success, with many owners citing the fast, nimble sailing performance. In total, between 450 and

650 were built (estimates vary), mostly in France at Beneteau’s main manufacturing facility at Saint Gilles Croix de Vie; and some at the company’s American plant in Marion, South Carolina. There were various options, including to the keel. This example had a lifting iron keel, but standard bolt-on fin keels were also available at two depths. 

Pre-purchase survey on a beautiful, beamy sloop built to the Colin Archer shape, to a design by William Garden, built in Zimbabwe in 2006 and finished my Medusa Marine in Suffolk. The build was in quadraxial timber cold-moulding, glassed on the outside and epoxy skimmed on the inside. 

Pre-purchase survey on a remarkably dry Twister 28 MkII (also known as the 'Tuffglass' Twister). It's always a privelege to work on boats of this sort of beauty. This one is to a design by the late Kim Holman, whose obituary I wrote nearly two decades ago.   

The 21ft wooden motorboat Pecheur had reached the end of her life. The owner wanted to know her full condition and the feasibility of a restoration. 

Westerly spanned various phases. Like so many British yacht builders,  the company underwent a dizzying succession of owners, mergers, directors and more. The Oceanquest 35CC, introduced in 1996, is typical of their late work. In its centre-cockpit configuration, as here, it features one of the biggest aft cabins you'll see on a boat this size.  

The 36ft (11m) twin-screw, carvel-built Ona II reached Dennetts for deep restoration in June 2024, having spent five years deserted in Paris. Her condition was not far from the stage where you would think bonfire or replica. Aquamarine carried out this report for boatbuilder Steve Dennett. Ona II is now fully restored.