Boats

Triton is an open double ended ship’s lifeboat which previously belonged to the pre-war tug Triton, which in the 1970s was used as a seamanship school in St Katherine’s dock, London. Such craft have a rather colourful history, in one sense going back hundreds of years to the ship’s boats carried by all large sailing…

A sailboard/windsurfer dating from around 1985, a model which can be seen as following on from the Ten Cate model (see Ten Cate Windsurfer BAE0111). This board was manufactured by the French company Dufour and was a very popular design in its day. It was this popularity that encouraged BiC, the French ballpoint pen manufacturer,…

Finesse is the oldest surviving British registered Finn, possibly the oldest in the world. It was one of a number built for the 1952 Olympics (see early history of the class under Seawolf BAE0020) and numbers for the class were allocated internationally, with 9 going to Germany, 5 to France, 2 to Belgium, 2 to Austria,…

This is one of several kayaks in the Museum’s collection from the drawing board of that prolific designer of small boats Percy Blandford. Blandford’s passion was to design ‘small boats for everyman’ that could be constructed at home with a minimum of tools and expertise. In the years following the Second World War there was…

This is one of several kayaks in the Museum’s collection from the pen of that prolific designer of small boats Percy Blandford. As well as his passion for designing small affordable boats, Percy Blandford was actively involved for many years in the Scouting movement, organising many waterborne activities for Scout groups, and his daughter reports…

Ken Littledyke was a 1950s school  woodwork teacher who was in the habit of introducing his pupils to canoeing, including helping them with building their own boats. Initially his preferred method of construction involved canvas stretched over a wooden frame, as was popular at the time. However canvas covered craft are vulnerable to damage both…

This late nineteenth/early twentieth century double touring kayak is a close copy of the original “Rob Roy” McGregor canoe in (a single seater example of which) McGregor paddled his way extensively across European rivers some 40 years earlier (see more details under BAE0114). McGregor’s exploits sparked a massive interest in leisure canoeing and sailing. This…

This clinker built dinghy Jonik III was built in 1936 by Percy Clemens of Fowey and used as a tender to Jonik, see BC42.

Fleur was a pram dinghy used by the King family together with their motorboat JONIK (see BC42). It was built by Percy Clemens at Fowey.