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We were very pleased to work with Wetwheels South East fitting a flush mounted pedestal for a removable helm seat - whilst maintaining wheelchair access. Wetwheels builds disabled people’s confidence by providing the opportunity to access the sea in a fun, safe, stimulating and rewarding way using specially modified, fully accessible powerboats. Good luck for the season ahead and we look forward to working with you in the future.
One of our jobs this week is to work on a Westerly Griffon - designed with the intention of replacing the famous Westerly Centaur - this Griffon is well travelled completing a circumnavigation of Britain. It is prudent to remove the keels to inspect the studs and hull lamination for any damage. When we did this many of the studs on this Griffon were bent, one had sheered and the hull lamination needed substantial reinforcement. Therefore new laminate will be bonded into the hull with extra bulkhead strengtheners (while we are there we will close some unwanted thru hull fittings). The keels have come into the workshop and will be stripped to bare and a new series of epoxy primer coatings applied and then re-fit the keels with new studs to ensure peace of mind for the owners.
We currently have a pair of Nelson 40 re-fit projects underway. These sister ships were moulded by Halmatics but the similarities stop there - they have been bought by their owners for very different purposes.
‘Valonia’ was a Trinity House pilot boat and needs to be a tough, seaworthy workboat. Our brief was to remove the rotten wooden superstructure and internal timber work and create a bespoke fibreglass wheelhouse and coachroof moulding, together with, re-designing the aft section of the boat to incorporate a cockpit capable of transporting 8’x4’ panels. We are currently fitting a complete new internal layout… ‘The Caren Louise’ was originally a harbour launch and has become an offshore cruiser. The first time this boat was with us at Cory Yachts in 2003/04 we stripped the old workboat interior and moulded a bespoke aft cabin with island double berth, finished in traditional teak woodwork. We continued this beautiful custom teak woodwork throughout the saloon with leather upholstery and finished with a spacious galley and dining area perfect for accommodating friends. Due to a change in ownership the boat had been unused for several years and Cory Yachts has been tasked with restoring ‘The Caren Louise’ to its former glory for the new owners.Internal refurbishment includes new deckhead and sidelining panels and a complete re-varnish throughout. Outside on the hull we have agreed on a plan to fit a custom fender, along with a new bathing platform and integrated boarding steps moulded into the transom. To complete the transformation of ‘The Caren Louise’ we plan to add a new custom moulded hardtop, aft deck seating area and table - the owners are looking forward to nights on the aft deck entertaining friends in harbours across Europe. In early 2018 we had the pleasure of working on a Thames-Class A Rater which was built at the dawn of the 20th Century. In the workshop we faired and resurfaced the hull. Then resprayed the hull, decks and carbon-fibre mast. Now back racing on the Thames we wish the team good luck in the 2019 season.
We continued the finishing touches to Phyllis B - installing an integrated Axiom chart plotter, autopilot and Icom VHF & AIS into our latest design and build launched here in Sandwich. Phyllis B is a Kent 35 which has proven to be a seaworthy and comfortable cruising boat for its owner. Phyllis B’s maiden voyage was from Sandwich to Holland, where the new design was admired in the locks and harbours by boat owners and lock keepers and met other Kent owners on the way. Another Cory Yachts Kent returned to our workshop 14 years after it was first released from the mould. Igor, a Kent 31 originally returned to Sandwich for a re-engine, going from a 55hp to a new 130hp. We removed some ballast from the stern and they sailed off on an East Coast of England tour. Before crossing the channel back to Holland they came back to the workshop and the Kent 31 had a waterline extension and integrated bathing platform seamlessly joined to the boat. Adding more waterline length, easing the access on and off the boat for owners and their dogs. We also added a cockpit hard top which has become a speciality of Cory Yachts bespoke features. Cool Blue, Simon Cory’s own designed and built Cory Yachts 290 came into the workshop before Cowes Week racing as ‘Icom Cool Blue’ in IRC 6 followed by this year’s summer cruise to Weymouth, where we re-sealed the windows, re-sprayed the coachroof and cockpit and sprayed on this season’s antifoul. Congratulations to the team for another great performance out in tough conditions. We are pleased that Brian is still racing and raced his A-class Catamaran at Downs Sailing Club on his 80th Birthday! We also sprayed the antifoul onto an SJ320 alongside moulding a new cockpit layout giving the mainsheet trimmer a solid stance behind the tiller and integrated footwells in the cockpit seats for the helm. Whilst this work was going on inside the cockpit we fabricated a new rudder in the workshop. We delivered a new rudder for a Contessa 32 who went on to win their class at Cowes Week, Congratulations! On a visit to Cowes we changed the jib sheets from longitudinal to transverse on Joker, the Quarter Ton class yacht which we have previously worked on and are looking forward to welcoming back into the workshop soon. We have delivered our second Invicta 295, with a the walk around deck design - including side boarding gate and wheelhouse side door - allowing the partially disabled client to spend his summer cruising around the dutch waterways singlehanded. The interior photos show off the beautiful maple finish. We have continued delivering professional repairs on sailing dinghies. We have re-decked a Bonezzi Contender, re-roped and re-furbished a Solo with new continuous control lines, repaired, re-polished and re-furbished Lasers / Laser 2000, Rs Aero / 200 / 400 / 800, Streaker, Supernova, Hobie 405, Phantom, Finn, Merlin Rocket and Wayfarer to name some of the designs. Each dinghy leaves our workshop shining from a clean and compound polish ready to compete. |
