Wooden Drascombes

'The Drascombe Boats'

WoodenBoat magazine

January/February 1979 No 26.

The shape of all the Drascombe boats is to some extent dictated by the lay of the planks. In 1962, with the advent of resorcinol glue, Watkinson had reckoned that it should be possible to clinker build in plywood using a small number of wide strakes, and dispensing with chine pieces as well as most transverse framing.

The first three boats he built to this method were disappointing, for he had not mastered the method of avoiding edge setting the wide plywood planks as they were bent around the hull. But he persevered, and finally arrived at a system whereby a glued plywood clinker boat could match its rival both in cost and in having a smooth interior, which is a vital factor in easy maintenance.

Yet, as he says:

  "The one snag was skill. Building a good clinker boat using conventional fastenings is probably the most difficult task that a boat builder is invited to perform. Take away from this the copper nails, the timbers, and the ability to edge set the planks, and you present your boatbuilder with a much harder problem. Intelligent and dedicated people capable of being trained to do this work at the fairly low rates of pay offered in the boatbuilding industry are few and far between. So it was that in 1969 GRP was adopted for the quantity-produced Drascombe boats, leaving John Elliott and his brother in business in a small way to satisfy those who insist on wooden construction."

The Drascombe Lugger, perhaps the best known of the Watkinson-designed boats, at her best in the water at Newton Ferrers.

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Last updated: 12 November, 2008

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