British Power Boat Co Runabout? Rebuild started

[Mike.Pascall]

I have started the refurbishment of what may be a British Powerboat Company runabout. Originally a double diagonal bottom and single diagonal plus horizontal planking top sides. The bottom was replaced with ply that has now been removed. It had a triple cockpit layout, but all the interior joinery was relatively poor quality (by comparison to the original work) and is therefore inconclusive. The steering box is a Bishop Gear Cam box which was primarily used in the UK but was shipped to the US as well. The gear lever looks identical to a Gar Wood or Chris Craft but may be a later fit, a broken bronze bracket and poor quality mild steel bracket suggests it may have been original equipment but moved for a later engine installation. It originally had a single exhaust, the second one was added later as can again be seen by the quality of the workmanship. It has a stainless mooring ring similar to a Gar Wood but this was a later addition (ply strengthening). If it had a Scripps engine originally it was the small one (202 dimensions too large for the engine bay). As the smaller Scripps or equivalent Meadows are impossible to source I am intending to re-engine with a short block V8 as per Chris Craft/Gar Wood. There are no builders name plate, hull no etc anywhere on the boat. You can follow the rebuild at CServe in Poole on Facebook "Project British power boat co launch rebuild". Any input regarding history or refurbishment advice would be welcome. We are re planking with African Mahogany (Sapele) with highlights in Khaya. We will epoxy glass between the skins and use bronze fastenings wherever we can. There is a very faint outline on the stern suggesting a 5 or 6 letter name ending in 'R'. I understand it was kept at Freebody's yard for many years. Apart from the above we have absolutely no idea of provenance. It will be a beautiful boat on completion of the project.

[water_buoy]

Is this the boat that recently went through eBay? I remember seeing a British powerboat co and thinking what a lovely project it would be. I'd love to see pictures if you've got any?

[sean-nós]

Is this the boat that recently went through eBay? I remember seeing a British powerboat co and thinking what a lovely project it would be. I'd love to see pictures if you've got any?

Lot's of them on his Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Britishpowerbo ... ion=stream





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[water_buoy]

Cheers, I'll definitely be following this one!

[puddleduck]

Hi Mike, take a look at this link. CMC member Antoine Benoit restored 'Miss Paris' his 1938 British Powerboat Sea King back in 2001/2002. I helped source a gearbox for him at the time (that's me mentioned in the text 'Chris Harris')

www.cmc-retronautisme.fr/restauration.missparis.htm

if that doesn't work she's on the website under 'restauration' then 'Un Bateau, une histoire'

good hunting!

Chris

[Alacrity]

Link doesn't work for me, try this one.

[Mike.Pascall]

Hi Chris, thanks for the link. I had looked at the site before but it doesn't really help us identify our "project". It would be great to see details of the frames and confirmation of method of construction to see if there are similarities. Miss Paris is 24'6" and ours is just over 22' whereas most comments on BPBC runabouts seem to be 23'. It would be interesting to know if there were any name plates, builders number etc on the boat. Any photos of the steering box, gear lever, bilge pump etc all of which look original on the "project" would be very helpful. Thanks for your interest and kind regards, Mike

[puddleduck]

Hi Mike,
yes you're right, according to Adrian Rance's book Sea King, Sea Queen, Sea Prince, Sea Jack and Sea Rover are all listed at 23ft. I'm sure if you can contact Antoine through the CMC he must have loads of photos of his restoration.

cheers,
c.

[Mike.Pascall]

I went Peter Freebody's yard at Hurley today and one of the employees said that the boat had been bought by Peter 30+ years ago for refurbishment but had never been started. He confirms that they understood that it was a British Power Boat Company boat but had no further information to offer. At least we have started refitting now rather than stripping out. - new stem being laminated and new frames being glued and bolted into place!

[Mike.Pascall]

Hi, good progress on the refurbishment, 80% of the floor frames and ribs completed! starting the planting tomorrow. Can't locate a small Scripps or Meadows so have ordered a 325 short block V8 from the US as a total package, not original but should give a "classic" feel and sound. New instruments ordered, Smiths Classic range with Magnolia face which should again give a "classic" look. We have also ordered a beautiful spot light from Iva-Lite in the States together with a matching set of switches. Good progress on all fronts.

Except we are no further forward on the boat's history. No response from the French site re Miss Paris which might give us some real clues. We have studied other projects closely which means we had eliminated Gar Wood and Chris Craft so we still feel British Power Boat Company is the most likely answer.

All leads, comments, suggestions etc are very welcome