History of the SeaHawk
Page updated 15 June 2006
[NOTE: This page has been prepared from notes of phone calls, e-mails or conversations with John Bennett, Chris Jeckells, David Cornabe and Mike Lankester. Any errors can be assumed to be because of my misunderstanding or poor note taking. Please let me know of any corrections or further information that you might have, via the Feedback Form. - Webmaster]
Early Designs
It was John Bennett who designed the SeaHawk. Born in 1922, he served as an officer in the Army during the war and, in 1948, started a boat building business. The design of the SeaHawk grew out of ideas originating in the early 1950s.
In 1960 John started a new business at Great Yarmouth and finally put the ideas into practice, buying in a Fairy Marine GRP hull. This version, of what was to become the SeaHawk that we know, had strip planking topsides. Later a second version was built by another company, based in Gorleston, using cold moulded plywood, remembered by John as Design 477!
Mike Lankester's mother worked as a secretary for John Bennett around this time. Mike remembers that a year or two before leaving school in 1964, he was invited on a promotional cruise along the south coast, between Dover and Littlehampton. Apart from John Bennett, Mike remembers that also on board was "Bim", short for the nickname "Sunbeam". This trip was in a wooden prototype SeaHawk.
At one point a correspondent from one of the boating magazines came aboard. Mike reports that John was most concerned that, while the he was aboard, they managed to get the boat on the plane. This was not something that John had intended! Shown a photograph of an example of the SeaHawk that we know today, Mike barely recognised it as the boat he remembers sailing in. If the prototype would plane, perhaps this is not surprising!
Since that conversation with Mike, a book has been found with information about a prototype SeaHawk which might explain the difference between the boat Mike remembers and the one we know today.
By 1968 John was advertising his business in BOAT WORLD, The Sail and Powerboat Year Book. The book includes a list of Sail Marks and the one for the "Sea Hawk" is shown on the right. This mark is interesting as it shows no similarity to that used by Reedcraft when they started manufacture of the boat, though it is echoed by that used, much later, by Pyefleet Boat Sales.
Around this time he remembers that was approached by firm of agents, "International Marine". They were looking for a design for a client to build. This was Reedcraft and the version that was to be the Sea Hawk as it is currently known. Jeckells, the sail makers, records show that all orders for sails for the SeaHawk between 1969 and 1973 came from "Marine Sales International Ltd". This suggests that rather than an agent, this was the registered name for the company trading as Reedcraft or that there was some other close financial link between them.
Reedcraft
John says that the first production boat from Reedcraft was due to be put in the water on a February day in the mid or late 1960s. He was invited to the launch and arrived at Reedham to see a BBC Television van at the western end of the quay and an Anglia TV van at the opposite end. It was blowing a Force 7 from the South West. The wind was against the tide and white horses were all around! The mast had not even been erected and John assumed the launch was to be postponed. However, the opportunity for the publicity clearly proved too much for the builders. John was asked if he'd like to be aboard when they launched. With apparent amusement in telling the tale he reports that he declined the offer! Not deterred two men, one who had never sailed in his life, went aboard and, in front of the cameras, proceeded to put the boat through its paces. It performed faultlessly.
John recalls that a boat was taken, single handed, across the North Sea to a boat show in Holland soon after this first launch. Whether this is the same North Sea crossing as that reported in the Reedcraft publicity of the early 1970s or not is not clear. However, the newspaper stories quoted by Reedcraft indicate two men made the crossing to show the Boat in Holland.
When it first appeared on the market Reedcraft priced the basic boat at £555. There were a range of options that were available, some of which are mentioned in the Promotion and Description sections of the site. [It is hoped that someone "out there" can provide a copy of the original price list - Webmaster]
During the time Reedcraft were making the boat the Company approached Jeckells about supplying sails for a taller rig. The standard mast is approximately 21ft in height above the gunwales. The new version was to have a mast 24ft high. Jeckells have on file an internal memo dated 26/1/72, with a response on 3/2/1972, concerning this project. To the owner of a SeaHawk it makes fascinating reading - and might even bring a smile to your face, as certainly, anyone who knows a SeaHawk will be astounded by the observations and conclusions made by "J.S.S." about the boat. No doubt all students of sail making will be intrigued, on another level too, for it must represent the classic frustration for anyone in the trade. Chris Jeckells, who passed me the memo, following my initial telephone call with him, said "I was on a SeaHawk yesterday, and I know that they heel to a certain angle and stay there!", without needing to say that such predictable behaviour is the sign of a good design.
Reedcraft built a number of boats through the seventies but sold on the moulds to R. Moore & Son (Wroxham) Ltd., shortly before the company had a fire in their main building and ceased trading.
R. Moore & Son
The question of how many boats Reedcraft made before the takeover by R. Moore cannot be answered at this time. Jeckells records show that they made SN#370 on 19/2/1990, but this may indicate a replacement order rather than the then current total of SeaHawks built.
After the takeover by R. Moore & Son, it seems that discussions with John Bennett took place about updating the SeaHawk. It is not known who initiated these and could be that Moore felt they were losing sales because the SeaHawk design, then over 20 years old, lacked appeal compared with more modern designs.
The drawing below, dated November 1987, was found in the Jeckells archives which shows a completely new upper moulding was considered. The design retains the distinctive cabin door, but displays a radically different roof line forward of the mast reminiscent of some of the other designs becoming available at the time. Whilst it loses the window at the front of the cabin it provides more headroom in the cabin forward of the mast.
This new Mk6 design was never manufactured, but would have allowed either for the forward bunks be set higher in the boat, with more stowage capacity beneath them, or for locker space to be created in the increased headroom. Either option would have made the four-berth model a far more practical proposition for more than week-end cruises. It is a shame that drawings of the planned interior have not yet come to light.
As can be seen from the copyright stamp, dated 1994, it seems that this new version of the SeaHawk was under consideration almost up to the time of Moore's failure. (This drawing also raises the issue of the sail emblem and what was prompting the reappearance of the "H" style logo.)
Menawhile, on the 5th December 1991, the first of two tall rigged SeaHawks were built. (According to Chris Jeckells, this boat was displayed on the Moore's stand at the London Boat Show in 1992. However, the boat taken to the show is now to be found at Hickling Broad, and it appears doubtful that it ever had a taller mast.) The second, and only other tall-rigged boat, had a main and genoa supplied to a Mr Blackwell on the 7th May 1993.
Having supplied the sails for all the Reedcraft produced boats, Jeckells had continued to be the sole supplier when R. Moore &Son took on the SeaHawk. In April 1993 Jeckells became involved with the company as more than supplier. The builder had got into financial difficulty and as a result had spare building capacity. The building Jeckells was using at that time, both as a sail loft and for their fitting out and upholstery business, became subject to new regulations and could not be viably upgraded. As a result, they were looking for new premises. Jeckells bought into the Moore's building and so helped keep them building SeaHawks until they finally ceased trading in 1998.
It is the builder who keeps records of the number of boats built and requests the appropriate sail numbers from the sail maker. Chris Jeckells recalls giving those records away to someone who came asking for them at the time when R. Moore &Son went into receivership. As they were not judged to have monetary value, the receiver was not concerned about recording who took them. Chris cannot remember who it was, but knows that he would have had a genuine interest and was probably known to him. It would be wonderful if the person who obtained the books at that time could be found and allow them to be published here.
Pyefleet Boat Sales
Prior to the auction disposing of the Moore's assets, all the moulding tools were obtained by Mistral Craft, a company based at Loddon and owned by a Mr Jim Tubby. They are reported, by David Cornabe, to have produced two boats for Pyefleet Boat Sales, of Colchester. However, there is evidence of three boats having been made, the boat now known as Isolde, that has a red sail emblem and the number 502, Almaz, which has no emblem or sail number, and the boat seen in Pyefleet's advertisement and handbill, unnumbered, but with a black sail emblem.
While Mistral Craft built the boats, Pyefleet Boat Sales role was to market the boat. An advert that appeared in the magazine "Buy as boat for under £15,000" in September 2000 priced the boat at £12,995, including VAT for a "ready to sail package". The SeaHawk was displayed at the Boat Show and at the National Boat, Caravan and Leisure Show in 2001. The NBCL Show Report in "Boat Mart" magazine suggests it's "a great buy at just under £10,000". In John Bennett's view they priced the boat far too high and none were sold. Unforunately, both these companies have since ceased trading. The yard at Loddon no longer exists. The site was sold and is now a housing development.
The most notable features which appear to distinguish these Mistral-built SeaHawks are the handrail on the cabin roof, the lack of aluminium framing around the cabin windows, which now contain grey-smoked perspex, the externally mounted mooring cleats on the cockpit combing and the new sail emblem, which appears to hark back to the old prototype design from 1968. An article in Practical Boat Owner in February 2000, also suggests that there was some minor amendment to the centre plate in order to comply with the European Recreational Craft Directive.
After Pyefleet
Mistral Craft sold the tools to another company, based in Colchester, called Cair Paravel who planned to continue production. However, the director/owner, Jerry Gilmer, of this very successful company, and former partner in the Colchester-based Classfibre, who, historically, had moulded the large Oysters. re-won the contract and began to produce a 73ft for Oyster, as well as other very large boats. As a result, the plan to build the SeaHawk got put to one side. Jerry was then made an offer for the tools and decided to sell them.
Sam Watson, the next owner of the tools, produced another set of mouldings and planned to complete his boat in the summer of 2004, so completing the very last (currently!) SeaHawk. The tools were sold again to a company called North East Fibreglass Fabrication and Design, however, only the hull mould was actually collected from Colchester.
In the spring of 2004, David Cornabe began negotiating to buy the full set of moulds with a plan to start building SeaHawks again. David's background was in selling and he had previously sold John Bennett's Sunquest Range, built by Colvic. However, by August David's purchase was looking doubtful as the owners were being slow to return his calls. He began to wonder if they planned to use the hull mould for themselves. His other work obligations also began to make the project more difficult.
At that time, Sam Watson had the superstucture tools and David reported that he was still hoping to sell them. (So whether all the tools were sold to North East Fibreglass appears in doubt!) He also reported that there is a moulding or tool for an inner liner/roof which wasn't fitted in the SeaHawk that he bought, saying "Jim Tubby has it at Mistral Craft".
Contacted in January 2006, Simon Bailey at North East Fibreglass Fabrication and Design (2 Tyne Court, Wallis Road, Skippers Lane Industrial Estate, Middlesbrough, TS6 6DT, Tel: 01642 457556) confirmed that only the hull mould was ever collected from Colchester and that the other parts remain there. He says his company was once the biggest builder of GRP boats in the north east, but now is more involved windows and other products. He confirmed that he would prefer to sell on the moulds, but would also consider manufacture of spare parts from the moulds, suggesting that, if necessary, he would collect the remaining moulds and tools from Colchester.
Other Boats using the SeaHawk Hull
As a postscript, it may be worth noting that there are at least two other boats that have been produced using the SeaHawk hull. One was the Pedro/Senorita. Another boat with yawl rig on a SeaHawk hull has been spotted on Derwent Water in the Lake District.