Hull design

[Ribble Rose.]

Another thing she has is a hatch on her stern .I assumed it was for a stern anchor or something similar .I have just been looking at a few pictures of Fantail launches and a few have this type of hatch.Is this common ? This is a picture of the hatch on my boat https://www.flickr.com/photos/66402022@ ... ed-public/

[Gudmund]

I don't think you have stated what size the lined hole is. I'm guessing it may have been for the bolts that held legs in place to keep her upright when not afloat. There would also have been guys fore and aft to help keep the leg in place.

[Ribble Rose.]

The hole on her side is about 15mm dia from memory but I will take a proper look next time I go down ,definately not for legs .

[Ribble Rose.]

She looks a little like this in shape .http://www.nmmc.co.uk/images/uploaded/n ... sborne.jpg http://www.nmmc.co.uk/images/uploaded/n ... borne3.jpg

[Bob Cleek]

Looking at the hull, unless she has/had a centerboard trunk, which I don't see, I'd say she was originally a launch. Not necessarily steam (which is often betrayed by evidence of all the machinery that would have been attached here and there), but perhaps gasoline. The propeller is larger than you may be used to seeing because it's driven by a slow turning, high torque, two-stroke engine (and a nice little one at that.) It wasn't unusual for small fantail launches to be re-purposed with a sailing rig when their motoring days were done, or, where they were gas powered, to be rigged with supplementary sail. They didn't go to windward very well, unless fitted with a centerboard, leeboards, or an added on keel, which this one doesn't seem to have, but they would run downwind very smartly and when the wind was right, there was no reason to burn fuel when the wind blows for free. She appears to be lightly built and so not intended as a workboat. My guess is that she was built as a powered launch for pleasure use, perhaps to be carried by a larger yacht, probably sometime in the 1930's or /40's, and the sailing rig was added later, but that's a pretty wild guess, given that it's based only on the few pictures available.

The hole in the side could be for any number of things. An outboard vent for the fuel tank comes immediately to mind, but it could be anything. She looks like she'd be worth restoring. If the engine can be made to run and turns out to be the boat's original power, you might give some serious thought to restoring her as an open gas launch with that old classic engine in her, rather than trying to make her into something she never was. (As it stands, the engine is probably worth more than the hull at the moment, if it is repairable. There are a lot worse things than being a steam launch, but you have to take a really hard look at her and decide if she's up to the task in terms of her ability to carry the load and maintain stability with significantly more weight up higher as would be the case with an upright boiler.

Just thoughts... for whatever they are worth.

[Ribble Rose.]

The boat came from the North West of England up around the Lake District I think near the coast. Her dimensions are 21 ft x 6 ft across the deck and she has a depth from the deck to the bottom of her keel of about 4 ft 6" and she has a full length cast keel .I think she probably weighs about 1.5 tons . The volvo Md1 was thrown in the bottom when I purchased her so I fitted it and got it working .The sails are interesting in that they were made in at Hampton Court by a sail maker who Dutch and was born in the late 1800s they are a man made fibre and I think they will probably be one of the first sets produced in the country (I might be wrong on this but can`t find anyone who can give me info on them) I sail her regularly on the Ribble and she sails really well . There are quite a lot of photo`s of her under my Flickr account under Lady Coaster from when I brought her home as a bit of a wreck to being able to sail her . What got me thinking she may have been designed as a steam launch was the old picture of the small steam launch on Ullswater dated 1905 as she looked to have similar lines and size.

[Ribble Rose.]

I`ve a little more info on the hole a the stern and added a couple more photo`s .Opposite the stern hole about 4ft away is a beam next to the rudder housing this has been cut away I think to accommodate what ever terminated at the stern possibly a pipe .The picture also shows the underside of the old hatch .I have also included a picture of the small through hull fitting which I mentioned earlier. https://www.flickr.com/photos/66402022@ ... ed-public/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/66402022@ ... ed-public/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/66402022@ ... ed-public/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/66402022@ ... ed-public/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/66402022@ ... ed-public/
The other thing I`ve just found out is that the sails that came with the boat were made at East Mosley Hampton which is next to where this place is" Thornycroft was ... the Hampton Launch Works on Platts Eyot, an island on the Thames at Hampton" .Although I don`t think my boat was made here as she is not in their style it is a coincidence.
I hope I`m not boring to much but I`m just trying to find out a little history of my hull .Any thoughts appreciated .
Many thanks Ian

[tempus fugit]

Hi All, The hole on the stern looks like it was there for a Bumpkin.
The hole on the side if it is amidships looks ready for beaching legs, is there any trace of one on the other side?
Just my thoughts Regards Graham

[Ribble Rose.]

The hole in the side is far to small for beaching legs far more like a vent of some type I think as suggested before .The stern hole does not look like a bumpkin hole and it would not explain the cut away beam next to the rudder housing as I think although they are about 3 ft away they are linked ,i.e they are in line and approximately the same size. I sail a boat with a bumpkin and it just isn`t right,that`s why this hole has always puzzled me .If this boat was built to be a launch rather than a sailing boat, I was wondering about an exhaust outlet this would make more sense to me.Not knowing anything about launches I don`t know if this is how it would be done and open to suggestions .
Thanks Ian

[Ribble Rose.]

Hi not knowing to much about steam engines but still doing the detective work please can some one tell me what the pipe with the lagging is, which appears to go under the floor towards the propeller coupling and could this maybe the type of pipe which terminated at the stern of my boat ? http://www.boat-links.com/PT/PT2003/PoulsboSteam-4.jpg
Many thanks Ian.