Seajet
...
Nathan & Bitman,
It should be pointed out that Newbridge bit the dust even during the small cruiser boom time, and Evolution only lasted a very short time.
Re. The latter, I respectfully suggest just looking at most of Everitt's designs should be a warning, let alone how they were bult !
For example, the E-Boat, probably his best-seller, has/ had a warning on the class website that the things can sink relatively easily ( and yes, I met a chap who'd happily sailed one across the Atlantic, his major complaint was that it was too beamy ).
I looked at an Evolution 25 once in the early 1980's, and was very keen to shut the hatch and make a sharp exit.
My own boat, an Anderson 22 is another slightly different example. Anderson Rigden & Perkins were an old ( 1917 ) firm, originally building traditional wooden boats, sail and power, some pretty large.
In the 1970's they decided to get into the booming grp small cruiser market; they ( and I ! ) were very lucky they decided to to Oliver Lee, a gifted but restrained designer, who had done a huge amount of experimenting with non-remote controlled racing model yachts - amounting to what would now be tank testing- and had designed the early Hunters first.
So the basic design was good, but there was still a cross-over from the yard's past; for instance the early rudders were secured by copper fastenings made at the yard, rather than reach for a bunch of 316 stainless, as would be the ( better ) norm nowadays.
Andersons went bust about 1982, because they still relied on a lucrative MOD contract to build warship launches etc ( when you see a Type 42 or quite possibly any RN warship go past, those are Anderson launches on the davits ) - when the contract was lost, they were stuffed.
It's hard to tell if Andersons would still be going if that hadn't happened, they had started to build the 26 which is now a sought after boat - about 12 were built - and the Anderson 22 was still selling well, but to be honest I doubt they could have weathered the recession/s.
They have a reputation of being well built boats, which is true, but as I run the Owners Association I can think of the odd example where some backing plates were missing, etc - quality control in those days depending on the individual, and whether he was on a good day or not, as well as the occasional ' I thought you'd done that ' simple error.
It's interesting that I now know the ex- Managing Director quite well, and he is fiercely attached to the boat; to the extent he was willing to put his own money into building new boats in the mid-2000's, ( he has the moulds ) but it proved too big a project for the 2 of us, as he is well into retirement age.
It should be borne in mind that all these boats mentioned in this thread were designed and built a long time ago, when there just wasn't the experience in small grp boats that there is now - Twister Ken made an excellent point, what would a 35 year old car be like now ?
Even a 'good' car of that age will need a great deal of work, and will have design features that simply wouldn't be considered on even the cheapest cars today; these boats were designed, maybe built, before Concorde first flew, and what's that up to nowadays !
It should be pointed out that Newbridge bit the dust even during the small cruiser boom time, and Evolution only lasted a very short time.
Re. The latter, I respectfully suggest just looking at most of Everitt's designs should be a warning, let alone how they were bult !
For example, the E-Boat, probably his best-seller, has/ had a warning on the class website that the things can sink relatively easily ( and yes, I met a chap who'd happily sailed one across the Atlantic, his major complaint was that it was too beamy ).
I looked at an Evolution 25 once in the early 1980's, and was very keen to shut the hatch and make a sharp exit.
My own boat, an Anderson 22 is another slightly different example. Anderson Rigden & Perkins were an old ( 1917 ) firm, originally building traditional wooden boats, sail and power, some pretty large.
In the 1970's they decided to get into the booming grp small cruiser market; they ( and I ! ) were very lucky they decided to to Oliver Lee, a gifted but restrained designer, who had done a huge amount of experimenting with non-remote controlled racing model yachts - amounting to what would now be tank testing- and had designed the early Hunters first.
So the basic design was good, but there was still a cross-over from the yard's past; for instance the early rudders were secured by copper fastenings made at the yard, rather than reach for a bunch of 316 stainless, as would be the ( better ) norm nowadays.
Andersons went bust about 1982, because they still relied on a lucrative MOD contract to build warship launches etc ( when you see a Type 42 or quite possibly any RN warship go past, those are Anderson launches on the davits ) - when the contract was lost, they were stuffed.
It's hard to tell if Andersons would still be going if that hadn't happened, they had started to build the 26 which is now a sought after boat - about 12 were built - and the Anderson 22 was still selling well, but to be honest I doubt they could have weathered the recession/s.
They have a reputation of being well built boats, which is true, but as I run the Owners Association I can think of the odd example where some backing plates were missing, etc - quality control in those days depending on the individual, and whether he was on a good day or not, as well as the occasional ' I thought you'd done that ' simple error.
It's interesting that I now know the ex- Managing Director quite well, and he is fiercely attached to the boat; to the extent he was willing to put his own money into building new boats in the mid-2000's, ( he has the moulds ) but it proved too big a project for the 2 of us, as he is well into retirement age.
It should be borne in mind that all these boats mentioned in this thread were designed and built a long time ago, when there just wasn't the experience in small grp boats that there is now - Twister Ken made an excellent point, what would a 35 year old car be like now ?
Even a 'good' car of that age will need a great deal of work, and will have design features that simply wouldn't be considered on even the cheapest cars today; these boats were designed, maybe built, before Concorde first flew, and what's that up to nowadays !
Last edited:
