Wooden Ships Comments on this Peter Brett Dee 25
31’ Dee 25 designed by Peter Brett and built by Allanson & Son, Lancashire in 1960.
Peter Brett is best known as the designer of the famous Rival yachts, and he evolved the lines of the Dee 25 into his Rival 31 which was largely the same boat but with a little more volume and built in GRP.
He designed the first Dee 25, Fair Rover, for himself. The design was featured in Yachting World magazine in 1951 and she proved very successful in his local Irish Sea races. 10 more Dee 25s followed all built at the same yard in Lancashire with the class named after the River Dee on which they were built.
No. 2 Rondinella is a name many people will know, winning the Cowes-Dinard Race in 1959 and the only boat in Class 111 to finish the 1965 Channel Race which was hit by severe weather conditions. She featured in Adlard Coles book Heavy Weather Sailing because of her superb sea keeping qualities.
Such was the success of Fair Rover and Rondinella, the yard went on to build another 8 boats to the same design.
The design has not excessive draft with a long keel for good stability limited over-hangs and a generous beam for the period. It is said that the drying mud berth mooring near where Brett lived on the Dee Estuary was an influential factor in the design.
The interior rigid ply bulkheads with their signature keyhole design are an integral part of the design and contribute to her strength. She stands up well to her rig and is remarkably fast.
This yacht has been altered slightly with a cutter rig and a small bowsprit. Her staysail is self tacking on a boom with a roller furling jib making her easy to handle in all weather conditions.
She had a major professional refit in 2000 and another between. In the first refit the deck was replaced and the interior refitted. In the latter refit many cracked frames were repaired or replaced, the engine renewed and a new mast fitted.
Length on Deck 30’9”
Length Overall 34’
Length Waterline 25’
Beam 9’
Draft 4’6”
Thames Tonnage 9TM
Displacement 5.6 tons
Construction
- Carvel planked in larch or possibly pitch pine. Copper rivet fastened to closely spaced steam bent oak timbers.
- External iron ballast keel. Wrought keel bolts, 2 replaced in 2007 and another 2 replaced in 2013.
- Galvanised strap floors across the centreline.
- Yacht laid teak deck glued to a marine plywood sub deck, all new in 2000. There are no screws through the teak which can lead to water ingress.
- Coachroof with plywood coamings and sheathed plywood coachroof deck.
- Self draining cockpit with teak thwarts and a spray hood for shelter
- Tiller steering on a transom hung rudder.
Rig
- Bermudan cutter rig on a hollow deck stepped mast made by Collars in 2016.
- Slab reefing wooden boom with lazy jacks for easy handling of the mainsail.
- Stainless steel standing rigging to internal stainless chain plates. New rigging in 2008.
- Boomed staysail with a single sheet running aft.
- Rotostay E roller furling headsail system at the end of the bowsprit.
- Pair of Lewmar 30 cockpit sheet winches. Pair of Lewmar 16 mast winches.
- Mainsail, staysail, yankee new in 2000. Cruising chute new in 2016.
Machinery
- 29hp Sole Mini 3cyl diesel installed new in 2014.
- 2:1 reduction gearbox with shaft drive to a centreline fixed 3 blade bronze propeller gives 5 knots cruising speed. Fuel consumption of 2 litres/hour. New propeller in 2015.
- 60 litre stainless fuel tank under the cockpit sole.
- 3 x 105ah batteries for engine starting and domestic use, new 2017. Charged from the engine alternator and a solar panel on the aft deck.
- 2 x 60 litre epoxy coated plywood water tanks. 60 litre flexible water tank in the forepeak.
- 1 manual bilge pump and 1 auto electric bilge pump.
- Calorifier connected to the engine for domestic hot water
Accommodation
- 5 berths including 2 quarter berths, a saloon settee berth and 2 single berths in the fore cabin.
- 6’2” (1.92m) headroom in the saloon.
- Webasto cabin heating system, installed new in 2016.
- All new upholstery in 2016.
- Steps down from the companion hatch over the engine box with a quarter berth either side.
- Fold down chart desk to starboard with the switch panel under the side deck.
- Passing forward through the keyhole bulkhead into the main cabin.
- Galley to port with a Taylors 030 paraffin stove, new in 2016. Twin stainless steel sinks with pressurised hot and cold water.
- Main saloon has a dropleaf table offset to starboard with a settee that side. To port is a settee berth with a trotter box at the forward end.
- Varnished teak skylight above the saloon.
- Door offset to port through the forward bulkhead moving into forecabin.
- Heads compartment to starboard with a Jabsco manual sea toilet connected to a waste tank. Hand basin to starboard with pressurised hot and cold water and a pull out shower head. Waste tank new in 2016.
- The forecabin has 2 single V-berths.
Equipment
- Contest steering compass, 2016
- Clipper duet sounder and log, 2016
- Clipper wind indicator, 2016
- ICOM M323 DSC VHF, 2016
- Handheld VHF
- Raymarine Series A chart plotter, new in 2016
- Clock and barometer
- Waypoint Coastal valise 4 person liferaft. New in 2020
- 4 x life jackets
- Inshore flare pack, new 2022
- Seago inflatable danbuoy, new 2019
- Fastfinder GPS Personal Locator Beacon, new 2020
- Heaving line
- Safety boarding ladder
- Fire blanket, 2022
- Fire extinguishers, 2022
- Manual bilge pump
- Auto electric bilge pump
- 35lb CQR anchor with 40m x 3/8” chain
- 25lb Danforth anchor with 40m warp
- Lewmar Pro Series electric anchor windlass, new 2016
- Windlass remote control
- Mooring warps
- Fenders
- Folding beaching legs
- Bunk and berth cushions. New upholstery 2016
- LED cabin lights new in 2016
- Taylors 030 paraffin stove
- Jabsco sea toilet
- Heads waste tank
- Domestic hot water system
- Webasto diesel fired cabin heating system, new in 2016.
- Galley equipment
- Sole Mini-29hp diesel engine, new 2014
- 3 x 105ah batteries, new 2017
- 2 x Solar panels with Votronic MPP 165 regulator
- Engine spares
- Mainsail Jeckellssqft
- Yankee Jeckellssqft
- Staysail Jeckellssqft
- Cruising Chute Jeckells 2016
- Rotostay E roller furling headsail
- 2 x Lewmar 30 cockpit sheet winches
- 2 x Lewmar 16 mast winches
- Winch handles
- Lazy jacks
- Mainsail cover
- Staysail cover
- Hot water cockpit shower
- Collapsible bucket
- Fresh water hose
- Ensign and staff
- Sprayhood, new 2016
- Skylight cover
- Forehatch cover
