William Kings & Sons Gaff Sloop

Wooden Ships Comments on this William Kings & Sons Gaff Sloop

21’ double ended gaff sloop built by William Kings & Sons of Burnham-on-Crouch in 1932.

Very nicely built and highly interesting yacht, impeccably well maintained in long experienced ownership.  This little yacht sails beautifully, is very easily handled and has won many gaffers races.

This special little yacht went through a major renovation in 2002 with a professional shipwright, and since that time has been diligently maintained by her meticulous owners with many recent upgrades and repairs.  The boat has been avidly cruised as well with trips north from her Welsh base, exploring the west coast of Scotland, Ireland and south to Brittany and Cornwall.

Far more capable and seaworthy then some would assume from her short length on deck, this is a particularly interesting yacht in superb condition and fully equipped ready to sail away this season.

 

Length on Deck            21’ / 6.4m

Length Overall             27’9” / 8.46m

Length Waterline         20’7” / 6.27m

Beam                               6’9” / 2.06m

Draft                                4’ / 1.22m

Displacement                4 tons

Sail Area                        300sqft

 

History

Shearwater has an interesting history. She is based on the 1895 Pengelly & Gore of Teignmouth designed & built 18ft double ender ‘Snipe’. Her designer Abraham Pengelly was said to be one of the best boat builders of the time (and interestingly the young Morgan Giles started his career around this time learning from Pengelly & Gore). Snipe was owned by the well-known yachtsman & author Francis B Cooke for a number of years around 1900. She was described affectionately in virtually all of his books, and he said she was probably the best boat he owned in some seventy years or so of sailing.

The person who purchased Snipe from Francis B Cooke, after almost 30 years of ownership, decided to have a larger version built, and it was essential she should have all of Snipe’s excellent qualities, so her lines were taken off by Kings of Burnham and Shearwater came into being in 1932. Kings did a wonderful job building her out of the finest materials. Shearwater is mentioned in the books as performing equally well, which has been confirmed many times since in the many cruises she has undertaken and classics races she has won.

Another previous owner, an ex pilot for Imperial Airways in the 1930s, lived aboard Shearwater for 16 years, and one one occasion made a trip from Isle of Man back to the mainland with a MV Agusta motorbike and dog aboard! Any information gathered on Shearwater’s history will be passed on to new owner.

The current owners have renovated Shearwater, kept her to a high standard, and have been on many adventures with her around Anglesey and as far as Brittany and the Outer Hebrides. She is now looking for a new owner to love and take care of her and enjoy new adventures of their own.

 

Recent maintenance

• Interior cabin coachroof deck head, deck beams, galley and under side decks repainted and re-varnished to high professional standard 2023
• Exterior varnish and paintwork always maintained to high standard
• New flexible water tank (Plastimo, 50l) 2024
• Engine oil change/service every year. Last service Oct 2024
• New Yanmar engine water pump 2024
• New Airmar bronze depth transducer 2024
• New fuel lines (Lloyds Register approved Marine fuel hose) and shut off valve 2022
• New Fuel Tank 33l 2022
• New Morse engine controller 2022
• New cutlas bearing, stern gland and packing 2022
• New anchor chain (50 metres of 8mm chain) 2022
• New Rigging (stainless steel) 2022
• New VHF aerial 2022
• New engine start battery (Yuasa 65Ah) 2022
• New domestic batteries (2 x 70Ah = 140Ah total) 2020
• New manual bilge pump (whale gusher urchin) 2022
• New mast June 2013 from professional shipwright
• Renovated 2002 by professional shipwright

 

– Numerous ribs replaced

– Re-caulking where necessary

– New sampson post

– Whole exterior scraped to bare wood and coatings re-applied after applying 3 coats of wood preservative

– Ballast keel re-bedded and new keel bolts added

– Plank end (hood end) fastenings replaced with Silicone Bronze screws

 

• Winterised ashore each year under a bespoke winter cover, after servicing all systems, winterising engine, and with all hatches open to ensure good ventilation throughout the boat. Batteries removed and kept indoors fully charged every winter.