Broom Capricorn

[islandbaggers]

Some years ago possibly around 2005 or earlier I found an article on the web about the refurbishment of a Broom Capricorn by a company called AJC Finishing Solutions (now disolved). The Capricorn was re-sprayed in Majestic Blue and had a new interior in white/cream with seats with blue piping. The boat was then to be used by the owner on Lake Como.
At a later date I spotted an advert for the same boat for sale based in a yard on Lake Como still looking great.
My question is a long shot but does anyone by any chance have any photos / saved images or knowledge of this boat as having just bought a 1980`s Broom Capricorn myself I would be extremely interested in refurbishing my Broom to look like this Capricorn?

In fact any info on the inboard Capricorn much appreciated !

[totalbeginner]

Just been on Google images, there's load of pic's, even one of a mercruiser sterndrive. There's even a picture of a boat named Gina! Now where have I seen that before LOL.

[islandbaggers]

Yes , it is the stern drive version i have but the images / pics I am after is of that particular Majestic Blue coloured Capricorn from Lake Como as it had been upgraded from the standard and looked fantastic.

[Sicobra]

Gina is not a Capricorn, she is a Broom Saturn.

[totalbeginner]

I've just sent an email to a company that has been making boats at/near Lake Como since 1870 to see if they know anything about the boat in question or if they can point me in the right direction.

I've also checked the sentence about Gina; it's written in English, the punction & grammer is all correct & I can't see any reference to Gina being a Capricorn? The only statement is that it came up in the search.

[islandbaggers]

Went searching my old computer at the house and in the deleted box I was able to recover the actual article by AJC Finishing Solutions which I will paste below. However no photos which is really what I am after. TB many thanks for your efforts much appreciated.

Article below :-

Broom Capricorn
This is a Broom Capricorn which has recently been acquired by its new owner. The boat has really good classic lines and is powered by a trusty V8 and achieves speeds of around 45mph. Speed isn’t really a concern though as this boat was built for cruising, when we have finished the project the boat will be taken to Lake Como in Italy to do just that. There will be no major changes to the lay out during the refit as it will be mainly restored to original spec. There will be a slight change to the trim with the addition of dark blue piping. This will define the seats and bring the whole thing together as the hull is going majestic blue, a subtle change but I think you will agree well worth it.

Jobs to do!

• Refinish hull deck
• Apply antifouling
• Refurbish or replace all wood interior for trim
• Retrim all interior items and make new toneau cover
• Refurbish screen and surround
• Remove engine and paint engine bay
• Remove corrosion on engine
• Replace engine mounts
• Repair bathing platform
• Replace rub strip
• Refurbish fuel tank
• Make new fuel tank retaining brackets
• Make new dash supports


This is the hull and deck ready for top coat, the system we are using is Awlcraft 2000.What you see on the boat in this picture is the epoxy primer .This is the water proofing for the hull, it provides good adhesion between the hull and the top coat. After the application of the primer the surface has a total wet flat down. This makes it totally smooth in readiness for top coat. It is at this stage that we pay particular attention and rectify any small imperfections on the substrate.

This is the finished painted surface, unfortunately the pictures do not do the finish justice. The Majestic Blue has a deep gloss shine and will retain the wet look appearance for years to come. Awlcraft 2000 is the latest in a line of specialist marine application systems. The difference with Awlcraft is it that rather than it being a polyurethane enamel like Awlgrip it is an acrylic urethane which gives it excellent polishing characteristics. This boat hull has not been polished and does not need polishing but where painting is done under not so controlled conditions it would be possible to polish out any inclusions on the paint that may occur.

This is the old interior, all a little tired and crying out for recovering. When we stripped out the boat we found that the majority of the wooden bases were rotten .This included the dash panel shown here, also the aft seat base and fwd seat bases, both side compartment panels and all engine cowlings. Fortunately we were able to use the old bases as patterns for making new components out of various thickness of marine grade ply.

One of the jobs on the to list do is to replace engine mounts and paint the engine bay. Obviously in order to carry out these tasks we need the engine out. There is also corrosion on the engine casing which we will be addressing. While the engine is removed, we will be replacing the wooden cross beam seat support and associated components. All of this wood will be undercoated and painted in matt black as will the engine bay and underside of the engine cowls.

This is the corroded fuel tank out of the Broom, the corrosion is only superficial. The reason it looks so bad is the lacquer has begun to lift. Once the protective lacquer has begun to lift from the tank, corrosion is free to spread. The answer is to remove the corrosion and treat any pitted areas with an anti corrosion system. For the painting we have used an aerospace grade epoxy primer with a corrosion inhibiter. Top coat is polyurethane enamel, a two pack paint which is also aerospace approved. When we fit the tank we will be replacing all of the associated mounts.

This is the refurbished fuel tank ready for refit. This component not only now looks good, it is also protected for years to come. Fuel tanks are an expensive item, the owner of this boat was quoted £500.00 by Broom for a replacement. Not all tanks can be saved; with this one it was possible because the corrosion had not gone to deep. Whenever it is possible and cost effective we will refurbish and not replace.

This is the finished interior .There are some changes to the original such as the blue piping and the removal of the front seat head rests. This boat is now in pristine condition inside and out, it really is a head turning piece of kit. The whole restoration has been carried out over a period of 3 months; we had a dead line of May bank holiday for delivery. The boat is now complete ahead of schedule and within budget.

Restoration complete. For more info on the trim please see our trim page. At A.J.C. we have a strong desire to give our customers a 'wow' factor when we deliver their boat. Whether it is a small job like replacing a rub strip or a full blown restoration, attention to detail is key to our work.

This is the fore deck of the Broom when the boat came in, there was a lot of damage here mainly from stress cracks and crazing. Right at the start of the project these were rectified and now there is no trace of them at all. We have applied a new walkway which is very similar to the original pattern, this is an adhesive type, however on other projects we have applied walkway in paint.

Finishing touches are important to any project, it is here that you can really see every thing come together. This is the original stainless plate on the stern that has been cleaned and in filled with black to make it look like new. Also the wording Broom has now been applied on both sides, this is as original and I think still looks good today.

The name of the boat has been applied in paint in this case but it is also an option to do the same with vinyl.The boat is now finished and in storage waiting to be delivered, this project shows most of the skills we have at A.J.C. We have a small dedicated work force that has a wide skill base; this helps us give our customer what they want all under one roof.

[pspeed]

I Remember the boat you are talking about clearly, I was probably the nicest one I've ever seen, a real dark blue almost black and was available with the mooring etc, the guy even went to great lengths about how much it costs to get to lake Como etc.
It was listed on ebay a couple of times with some schill bidding up to quite high prices as I remember, but it was lovely.

Anyway, Ive had a couple of Capricorns including the one below, when I had it it was all dark blue which I preferred, however they guy in the pics (a friend) bought it off me and painted the hull sides cream and put the teak on the engine cover, I took this pic on my phone whilst passing him on the river.

I think I have some pics from when I had it somewhere, If I find them I'll post them. This boat had a nice 470 Mercruiser in it which was a bit harsh sounding but very torquey for a 4 cyl

[islandbaggers]

Hi pspeed,
Yes that is the boat and your correct it was on ebay now that you have reminded me. The hull colour was majestic blue, really deep and royal and I think the deck was the same colour but that is one of the reasons I am looking for an image of that boat to confirm if deck was blue or white. It will be great to see your boat in the original colour if you can find some pics. The wooden aft deck is interesting never seen that before. I think the Lake Como boat had the aerial fin removed which possibly made it look better but of course not as original.
Just joined the CMBA this morning so look forward to keeping you all updated with how my Capricorn project gets on which has the Mercruiser 470 engine as well.
Your info was much appreciated.

[islandbaggers]

Thought I had found the Lake Como Capricorn as I saw an advert from 2009 via brokers Clarke and Carter for a boat called Blue Sapphire. Very helpfully Clarke and Carter sent me the images from the advert but unfortunately not the boat I am after again !
However on the plus side it is a great looking boat and worthy posting the images for any Broom fans.
Thank you Clarke & Carter your prompt help was appreciated.

[pspeed]

Hi There,

Thinking back, I remember the deck was definitely white or cream and the interior was white or cream, but personally I think they look a lot classier all one colour especially a dark one (pref blue).
I had an all red one once which looked good but it was a bit too flash really.

If I had another I would do the whole thing a really dark blue with white bottom, red boot top, and cream and blue (or turquoise) trim (similar to the Rivas) or possibly light tan trim like the Chris Craft Speedster.
Also the very early Capricorns did not have the spoiler, ( and look better these days ) I think it was an attempt to bring the boat into the 70's as they were quite an old fashioned design even then, compared to a similarly aged Fletcher, Shakespeare or Dateline.

I also prefer the trimmed engine cover but the guy I sold it to manages a yacht yard and has access to teak and varnish etc so he just fancied giving it some wood trim I think.