Boats

In the years following World War II there was a growing public demand for outdoor leisure pursuits, including boating. By utilising wood and adhesive technology developed during the War boat developers were able to provide a new range of affordable dinghies. The Heron dinghy was designed by Jack Holt in 1951 for the magazine Yachting…

What you are looking at is cutting edge 1930s technology: a Hudson Folding Dinghy, an unusual collapsible dinghy designed and made by R J Hudson (Dick) between the late 1920s and late 1930s, originally in Dublin and then in Devon. Dick worked as a civil engineer in India before returning to Ireland in the 1920s.…

  The origins of the International 14 class can be traced back to the early part of the 20th century, when the wealthy owners of steam yachts would race each other in their small dinghy tenders. Together with other regional dinghies the class soon developed into the leading dinghy racing class up to World War…

Different designs of traditional Thames rowing boats have different functions.  The Thames skiff, the wherry and the gig are all closely related to each other. The Thames wherry was the tool of the professional boatman and for many centuries was London’s taxi service. The Thames gig was the racing version: light weight and fitted with…

Waterlily  is a steam launch designed, built and used by the Thornycroft family. It then remained in use on the Thames until after World War II and took part in the Festival of Britain celebrations in 1951. Although its steam plant was removed in 1919, it was restored and re-installed in 1977-78 when Waterlily was restored…

“In fourteen hundred and ninety two,Columbus sailed the ocean blue…” So run the opening lines of a piece of doggerel, the origins of which are uncertain. At least five hundred years before Columbus, however, the Vikings are believed to have crossed “the ocean blue” and been the first Europeans to discover the “New World”. Four…

Drawing by “Rob Roy” McGregor Modern day enthusiasts of kayaking probably do not describe their on-water activity as ‘canoodling’, yet that was the term employed 150 years ago by John ‘Rob Roy’ McGregor, to whose activities and designs the development and popularity of the modern sport of leisure kayaking can be attributed. McGregor, nicknamed ‘Rob…

There is nothing new about the idea of a folding boat. Some of the Titanic’s lifeboats were folding boats and were successfully launched before the ship sank, but any lifeboat associated with the Titanic probably would not have received rave reviews so not many were built. Folding boats present all sorts of challenges to their…

By the late 19th century boating and picnics on the River Thames were gaining in popularity:  social events such as the Henley Regatta saw large gatherings of pleasure boats. The first slipper launch was designed and built by John Andrews at his father’s boatyard in Maidenhead in 1913. Powered by a single cylinder petrol engine,…