1937 Hornby of Wallasey Vintage Boat

This listing was posted on ListedBuy.

£24,950

1937 Hornby of Wallasey Vintage Boat

Price:

£24,950

Financing:

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Summary:

Used 1937

Location:

Coatham Mundeville

Description:

The joy with any vintage boat is of course partly in the historic research. Sometimes this proves to be an impossible task. However on this occasion the current owners, and indeed saviours, of Lavinia B have discovered a great deal about the past of this lovely, elegant bijou of a motor sailing vessel. Built of pitch pine on oak on the Wirral as hull number 408 in 1937 there was initially some hope that she might qualify for membership of the prestigious ADLS for Dunkirk Little Ships. However Lavinia B spent most of her early life in Suffolk and Esinteraction whence she was moved to the Shotley Point area to avoid the blitz and where she was used for aircraft spotting some 5 to 10 miles off shore, reporting to Clacton Observer Corps. Many years later in the mid nineteen sixties, still at Shotley, a plywood box was added to raise the headroom in the forward cabin. A sympathetic restoration has seen this removed and the foredeck reinstated together with the original tabernacle, mast, spars and rigging. A suit of sails included in the sale means that she can now be used again for sailing. It would seem that Hornby built the boat for Olive Blanch Lavinia Gilbey, wife of Vincent Gilbey who was at that time a member of the Royal Harwich Yacht Club, hence the east coast location. How lovely that the name has stayed with her throughout her whole history. The original Certificate of British Registry (Blue Book), now in the possession of the present owners, shows that Olive retained the boat for 21 years and sold it in1959 to Ivan Gammage, Branch Manager, who subsequently sold it in 1966 to David Polley, Company Director. David only retained the boat for one month and then transferred ownership to Peter Benham, solicitor, who kept her for 3 years passing on ownership in 1969. This is where the Blue Book comes to an end, and registration lapsed. The boat appears to have been retained in the Shotley area until 1990 having been owned by several people. Still available at ListedBuy!

For sale by:

Private Party

Posted:

March 21 on ListedBuy