Blog Category:
Wooden Boat Restorations
The Berthon Gauntlets
July 24, 2024
By Brian May, Berthon Boat Company It was back in 1933, when my great grandfather HG (Harry) May asked his naval architect, Rodney Paul, to design the first Gauntlet. This was the design brief – “The concept was to be a sea-kindly craft with moderate over-hangs and draught, a fairly…
West Solent One Design Suvretta Relaunched at Berthon
August 19, 2020
West Solent One Design, Suvretta relaunched at Berthon There is nothing that plays on the heartstrings of a sailor quite as perfectly as a classic yacht restored. The West Solent One Design (WSOD) is an elegant boat with serious credentials. Sometimes referred to as the J109 of their time and…
BRYNHILDE is back at Berthon
November 21, 2019
Brynhilde, the 10m 1958 wooden Bermudian sloop Fred Parker design is back at Berthon, this time for a major replacement of her teak deck. Brynhilde arrived at Lymington Marina last autumn as a new annual berth holder, fresh from the Mediterranean, and to undergo a minor refit in our Big…
Maiden Light, 24-ton aux cutter built by Berthon Boat Co. in 1936
November 15, 2019
After 83 years Maiden Light is back at Berthon Year built: 1936 Keel: Ful Build number: #490 LOA: 52 ft Builder: Berthon Boat Co. Beam: 12 ft Size: 24 tons Maiden Light was one of the largest Gauntlets built by Berthon; she’s a typical design with an elegant sheer and…
Queen Eilene is back on the water.
October 8, 2019
Refit of a 1951 Liverpool Class Lifeboat, Queen Eilene, is complete. Earlier this year you may have read that Berthon Boat Company were tasked with the refit of Queen Eilene, a 1951 twin-screw 35’ 6” Liverpool Class lifeboat (originally named B.H.M.H.). Queen Eilene was originally built by Rowhedge Ironworks,…
Wooden Bermudian sloop restored by Berthon
July 24, 2019
10 metre wooden Bermudian sloop, Brynhilde has been refitted in our Big Blue Sheds BRYNHILDE, a 10 metre 1958 wooden Bermudian sloop designed by Fred Parker, arrived as a new annual berth holder from the Mediterranean last year. She has been in her current family’s ownership for the past 40…
MGB81 returns to Berthon before attending the Normandy fleet
June 25, 2019
MGB81 returns to Berthon before attending the Normandy fleet Berthon touches up the MGB81 before the 75th anniversary of D-Day and the battle of Normandy. The battle began on June 6, 1944, when some 7,000 naval vessels, including battleships, destroyers, minesweepers, escorts, and assault crafts, escorted over 156,000 British, Canadian…
Restoration of a 1951 Twin-Screw 35’ 6” Liverpool Class lifeboat
January 29, 2019
Queen Eilene refit & restoration This Twin-Screw 35’ 6” Liverpool Class lifeboat (originally named B.H.M.H.) was built in 1951 by Rowhedge Ironworks as ON882 and was part of the RNLI operational fleet until 1984. 30 years of RNLI service and a further 30 years in private ownership had taken a…
