FAVOURITE THINGS
Celebrating half-a-century of production of one of the country’s most iconic angling vessels
Half a century of iconic fishing boats.
Whenever I get together with other sea anglers I am invariably asked about the boats I review, with one of the most popular questions being: “If you decided to buy your own boat again, what would you get?” I usually say that in an ideal world it would be a flats skiff in the Florida Keys or similar tropical location, but given the current exchange rate with the pound against the dollar, that is unlikely to happen any time soon.
In reality, the vessel I would choose would be dependent on the type of boat angling I was planning, specifically where I intended to fish.
I think my days of trailering boats are behind me, so I guess I would be looking at something I could keep in a marina. I really don’t feel the need to run many miles offshore in order to fish distant wrecks or drift for sharks. Targeting bass, cod, various species of flatfish, rays and smoothhounds within spitting distance of the adjacent shoreline would more that satisfy my requirements. Therefore, I would have no real need for speed, which given today’s fuel prices is no bad thing.
Most likely I’d look for a traditional displacement-type hull, powered by a reliable and hugely economic inboard diesel engine. Clearly the boat would have to be very well built, stable and seaworthy, have a good cabin, along with plenty of deckspace. Ideally, I’d like my boat to be British built along traditional lines.
UNIQUE GATHERING
This summer I had the opportunity to attend a small gathering of Plymouth Pilots, whose owners had arranged to meet to celebrate the company’s 50th anniversary. This gave me an unique opportunity to photograph models from the current Pilot range on the beautiful River Yealm, close to where these iconic boats are still built. On the drive home it occurred to me that, all things considered, were I ever to seriously consider buying another boat, then a Plymouth
Pilot would be my ideal choice.
The gathering had been arranged by Neil Humphrey, the company’s current managing director, who told me that, to his knowledge, this was the first time all three models in the Plymouth Pilot range had been photographed together. Also present was Geoff Lawton, who took over the company back in 1988 when he was workshop foreman. He was the ideal person to explain to me just how the Plymouth Pilots were developed.
“Plymouth Pilots can actually trace its roots back to the Monachorum Manufacturing Company, which was established in 1963 by Mike Challis and Pat Hallam,” said Geoff. “During those initial years, which coincided with a boom in GRP products, the company moulded many boats for other yards to complete, as well as other marine and industrial mouldings.
“Hulls built in those early years included the Mayflower dinghy for K R Skentelbery & Son; the Bowman 26ft sloop for Norman Boatyard; the Wayfarer and Scorpion dinghies for Westerly Boats; the Pilgrim 25ft cruisers for Marine Projects and last but not least, the Minipram dinghies for anybody who wanted one.
“In 1969 it was decided that it was about time the company started to build something under its own name, and the now very familiar shape of the Plymouth Pilot was conceived”
MMC founders Mike and Pat had been inspired by an old Teignmouth pilot launch, which was operated as a local ferry on the River Yealm. The company Morgan Giles, that owned and produced these launches, had ceased trading three years earlier, and Pat Hallam was able to purchase line drawings of the three launches prior to the yard’s demolition.
Once the line drawings were obtained, work started on the Plymouth Pilot 16, with the first boat built in 1970. In the following year the initial wooden concept of the 18-footer was displayed at the London Earl’s Court boat show, with the first complete set of 18ft mouldings
displayed that year at the Southampton show. In 1973, the first Saltram 24, later renamed the Plymouth Pilot 24 was launched. In the same year, the first cuddy was introduced for the 18, originally produced by WGM Products and called the Spurling 18.
NEW MILLENNIUM
Neil Humphrey purchased the business in 2009 and continued to work closely with Geoff Lawton and the original owner Mike Challis, as he fully intended to maintain the high standard and pedigree that is expected from the Plymouth Pilot range of boats.
Neil (pictured) takes up the story: “Before the introduction of decks and cuddies, early Plymouth Pilots were supplied as hull mouldings only, and were fitted out by their owners or by professional boatyards.
“Nowadays, the Plymouth Pilot is one of the most respected boats in its class, relied upon and in daily use by inshore fishermen, and enjoyed throughout the year by leisure users. All Plymouth Pilots are now custom-built, and testimony to our build quality is the fact that we have since produced and sold more than 2,500 Plymouth Pilots, with the majority of the earlier boats still in use today.”
When Geoff took over production of the Pilots, it was decided that, due to changes in lifestyle, the focus would move from kit boats to providing complete semi-bespoke boats to meet the needs of individual customers.
To aid the production in an increasingly competitive market, additional mouldings were introduced to eliminate traditional wooden parts from deteriorating. These included the introduction of the floor bearer and engine bed mould produced in 1989, followed by GRP sole, bulkhead, locker and engine box moulds.
For the practically-minded home boatbuilder, the company offered a comprehensive set of Plymouth Pilot mouldings for the 16, 18 and 24, along with the option of being fitted out in a variety of styles. These ranged from the basic open motor boat through to a number of cuddy options and the top-of-the-range cabin cruiser version for the 24ft Plymouth Pilot.
Alternatively, for those who are keen to get afloat without wishing to build their own boat, the company can supply a fully finished vessel featuring the finest craftsmen’s touches, from teak gunnel strakes and varnished timber seats to a wooden spoked steering wheel, giving that comfortable sense of tradition that plays such a large part in the much-loved character of the Plymouth Pilots.
Certainly few traditionally shaped, inshore, West Country fishing boats can boast a pedigree stretching back nearly 50 years. ■