Posted by David Bamford on December 24, 2001 at 09:03:35 from 203.201.7.54:
In Reply to: 1930s sailing boats posted by John Lambert on December 22, 2001 at 22:02:46:
One of the most prolific builders of motor-sailers in Britain in the '30's was Miller's, of St. Monance, Fife. The speed quoted by Bruce is the most realistic top speed, but the 7kts quoted by Mike is probably acheivable with a clean hull and everything perfect. A very popular engine at the time was the Scottish Kelvin, which ran on Tractor Vapourising Oil, which is no longer available. It was an excellent engine, very quiet, and ran for ever [or until the fuel ran out]. The Gardner was, and still is, the epitome of excellence in marine diesels, surpassing Rolls-Royce[who did not make marine diesels, to the best of my knowledge]. The Thornycroft Handy-Billy was very popular and used in Goblin, but it would require two of these [approx
10hp] engines for a motor-sailer. The construction of such a boat would probably have been Scottish Larch planks over Oak frames, with an Elm backbone [keel, stem, etc] and all fastened by copper rivets and bolts. Hope that this helps.