Quote:
Originally Posted by FLYING FISH
Dog slow indeed.Beken came to Shead for his opinion before he bought it and was told to forget it, as it was a load of rubbish.But what would he know!!!!
It was designed I think for patrol boat use.Anway it`s recorded as MIP build and designed by Alan Burnard.
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Remembered this article in MBY 8/'97:
…The Maywatch story starts in 1988, when she was originally commissioned as a fast offshore, surface drive, anti-smuggling patrol boat for a Middle Eastern state. She was designed by Alan Burnard. The sale, however, fell through and only the bare hull was built.
Then, in 1989 - in circumstances that would, six years later, repeat themselves almost exactly - the hull was spotted abandoned, by Ken Beken who was on the lookout for an offshore racing boat.
He bought the hull and, together with Barry Cass, set about building a craft that could take on top-class opposition in rough water and heavy weather.
"We wanted a strong deck and superstructure that would reflect the great strength of the hull," explains Beken. "So, first of all we put in 4in x 2in deck beams and a very heavy deck made of composite wood and fibreglass, which was then sheathed."
They put three 225hp outboards on the transom, won sponsorship from distillers Justerini & Brooks, called her J&B Rare and took her off on the Class II circuit.
"She needed some lift to really get going. The bigger the sea the better she performed," says Beken. "She was excellent - she could do 60 knots in anything, and kissed every wave. We were once airborne for three seconds," he adds, with same nostalgia.
They ran J&B Rare for three seasons, from 1989 to 1991, taking part in more than 20 races, and finishing seventh in the world Class II championship in 1990.
"For those three years, conditions were generally calm, which worked against us. Often, we took second or third place in competitions, but we never won. We would have run much better with inboard diesels, because the outboards didn't cape very well with the demands. We went through eleven outboards in that period."
The boat was retired and lay forgotten until spring 1995 when the hull was re-discovered - this time in a field near the Hamble, by John May. Again, it was just the bare hull that remained -all the woodwork had been ripped out.
"We have no idea who took the wood," says Beken, "but they certainly had a good fire that winter."
The hull was moved to the River Yar Boat Yard. May knew he wanted to create a high-performance sportscruiser and gathered a team to bring the idea to life. The group was made up of David Lemonius Coxswain of the Yarmouth lifeboat and owner of Yarmouth Marine Service, who would construct the new boat on the hull, and Roger Allen and Mike Kitcher of Buzzard Marine, also at River Yar Boat Yard, who would be responsible for overseeing the design and engineering….
Kent Koi
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