William Kings and Sons Shearwater for sale in Bangor United Kingdom

Classic 21ft Long Keel Double Ended Gaff Sloop

Year: 1932

Builder: William Kings and Sons of Burnham-On-Crouch

Engine: Yanmar GM10 inboard diesel engine

A stunning classic – pretty and unique classic sailing yacht. Turns heads wherever she goes. Well cared for in family ownership since 1997. Fully equipped and ready for cruising. Viewing Highly Recommended.

Location: Lying Ashore Bangor

NEW LISTING

Description:

Shearwater is a classic 21ft long keel double ended gaff sloop, with bowsprit and stern hung rudder. Built in 1932 by William Kings and Sons of Burnham-On-Crouch.

Key Features

• Stunning classic – pretty and unique classic sailing yacht. Turns heads wherever she goes. Well cared for in family ownership since 1997.
• Sails beautifully and winner of many gaffers and classics races. Fast easily driven hull with a high peaked gaff – very good performance under sail.
• Very good performance under power as well as sail – up to approx 5.5kts under power.
• Easy to handle single handed – halyards run back to cockpit. Sails can be easily raised and lowered (and jib furled/unfurled) from cockpit. Main sail & gaff can be easily dropped and then gathered with just one sail tie from the cockpit.
• Very original – beautifully built out of the highest quality materials by the renowned boat builders William Kings & Sons of Burnham-on-Crouch – pitch pine planking (the best wood for boat planking), and teak cabin sides/comings/cockpit seats/cabin hatch.
• Roomy interior for her size – 20 ft 7” on waterline. Approx 4 tonnes. Easy sections. Feels like a much bigger boat than the length on deck of 21ft suggests.
• Very capable – current owners have cruised Welsh coasts extensively and have undertaken extended trips to Brittany, Cornwall, Scilly Isles, Ireland, Isle of Man and Scotland (incl. Outer Hebrides and the Isle of Skye).
• Dry boat with well mannered handling. Heaves to well. Tiller pilot self steering can be used under sail and power.
• Large motoring range (33l fuel tank giving approx 24h motoring @1.2l/hr / up to approx 100nm range, plus range backup from reserve tanks). Pick your weather and in good conditions you can easily motor long distances across Irish sea or to Scotland etc… to reach new cruising grounds.
• Roomy and deep cockpit.
• Cosy cabin – open plan 2 berth (with ability to take 3rd person on cabin sole), teak cabin top and pitch pine deck beams creating beautiful traditional atmosphere.
• Fully equipped and ready to sail.

Dimensions / Basic Info

• LOD: 21ft / 6.40m
• LOA: 27 ft 9” / 8.46m
• LWL: 20ft 7” / 6.27m
• Beam: 6ft 9” / 2.06m
• Draft: 4ft / 1.22m
• Displacement: approx 4T
• Sail area: approx 300 sq feet
• Keel: Long Keel
• Accommodation: 2 berth (3 incl. cabin sole berth)
• Built: 1932
• Builder: William King & Sons of Burnham-On-Crouch
• Designer: A. Pengelly (Pengelly & Gore, Teignmouth, Devon)
• Construction: Carvel laid pitch pine planking on elm ribs. Oak floors. Oak and Elm centreline structure. Teak cabin top, comings and cockpit seats Teak. Cast iron external ballast keel. Keel stepped Douglas Fir mast.

Source of dimension / displacement data – Lloyds Register of Yachts 1939

Engine and Mechanics

• Yanmar GM10 inboard diesel engine (newly fitted in 2004)
• 2 blade bronze prop (selected to give increased sailing performance – can be locked in vertical position behind stern post)
• 33l fuel tank (new 2022) and water separator fuel filter
• 3 x 6l spare fuel tanks
• Leisure (house) batteries – 2 x 70Ah = 140Ah total (New 2020)
• Engine start battery – 65Ah (New 2022)
• 50l Plastimo flexible water tank (holds approx 30l as installed). New 2024
• 30l additional water in 3 x 10l plastic water cans
• 1 x Rule Mate auto bilge pump (500 GpH)
• 1 x Whale Gusher Urchin (up to 55l/min) manual bilge pump (new 2022)

Rig, Sails and Covers

• New mast June 2013 (keel stepped)
• New Rigging (stainless steel) 2022
• Main sail, No 1 Jib and No 2 Jib
• Wykeham Martin furling gear for Jib
• Turner’s roller reefing for Main Sail
• Winter cover (custom / bespoke made – allows mast to stay up)
• Sail cover
• Cockpit cover

Deck and Nav Equipment

• Tiller Pilot - Raymarine ST2000+
• VHF Radio (DSC) – ICOM IC-M423G
• AIS Class B Transponder – Digital Yacht AIT3000 AIS Transponder/Receiver (can plot AIS data on phone /tablet chart plotter via a wifi network it creates)
• Tender – Seago 230 Inflatable & aluminium oars (stored in fo’casle)
• Raymarine i40 depth sounder (with new Airmar Bronze depth transducer 2024)
• Main Anchor – 20lb CQR (genuine CQR brand)
• Main Anchor chain - 50 metres of 8mm chain (new 2022)
• Kedge anchor – 8kg Danforth, 8mm chain and anchor warp
• Nav lights – port, starboard and stern
• Anchor light (masthead)
• Radar reflector (traditional hoistable Octahedral)
• Plastimo steering Compass (backlit for night sailing)

Cabin

• Interior lights – 3 x red/white reading/galley lights, plus central white cabin light
• 12v sockets x 2 (for charging accessories on both port and starboard side of cabin)
• Lee cloths x 2
• Primus stove on 2 way gimbals (Lovely feature. Also much safer than having gas aboard)
• Saloon table (adjustable/turns on bracket for convenience)
• Bunk cushions
• Under bunk and cabin sole storage containers
• Storage netting under deck head
• Water pump tap in galley

Other

• Assorted spares and tool box
• Fenders (7) and warps
• Fire extinguisher, fire blanket and first aid kit
• 5w spectra solar panel (Marlec) for battery top ups
• Sea bucket and heads bucket
• Boat hook

Recent Maintenance

Shearwater is a well loved and cared for vessel looking for a new owner. Maintained to a high standard. Recent works have included:

• Interior cabin coachroof deck head, deck beams, galley and under side decks repainted and re-varnished to high professional standard 2023
• Exterior varnish and paintwork always maintained to high standard
• New flexible water tank (Plastimo, 50l) 2024
• New Airmar Bronze depth transducer 2024.
• Engine oil change/service every year. Last service Oct 2024
• New Yanmar engine water pump 2024
• New fuel lines (Lloyds Register approved Marine fuel hose) and shut off valve 2022
• New Fuel Tank 33l 2022
• New Morse engine controller 2022
• New cutlas bearing, stern gland and packing 2022
• New anchor chain (50 metres of 8mm chain) 2022
• New Rigging (stainless steel) 2022
• New VHF aerial 2022
• New engine start battery (Yuasa 65Ah) 2022
• New leisure (‘house’) batteries – (2 x 70Ah = 140Ah total) 2020
• New manual bilge pump (whale gusher urchin) 2022
• New mast June 2013 from professional shipwright
• Renovated 2002 by professional shipwright :-
1. • - New ribs and fastenings
   • - Re-caulking where necessary
   • - New sampson post
   • - Whole exterior scraped to bare wood and coatings re-applied after applying 3 coats of wood preservative
   • - Ballast keel re-bedded and new keel bolts added
   • - Plank end (hood end) fastenings replaced with new silicone bronze
• Winterised ashore each year under a bespoke winter cover, after servicing all systems, winterising engine, and with all hatches open to ensure good ventilation throughout the boat. Batteries removed and kept indoors fully charged every winter.

History

Shearwater has an interesting history. She is based on the 1895 Pengelly & Gore of Teignmouth designed & built 18ft double ender ‘Snipe’. Her designer Abraham Pengelly was said to be one of the best boat builders of the time (and interestingly the young Morgan Giles started his career around this time learning from Pengelly & Gore). Snipe was owned by the well-known yachtsman & author Francis B Cooke for a number of years around 1900. She was described affectionately in virtually all of his books, and he said she was probably the best boat he owned in some seventy years or so of sailing.

The person who purchased Snipe from Francis B Cooke, after almost 30 years of ownership, decided to have a larger version built, and it was essential she should have all of Snipe’s excellent qualities, so her lines were taken off by Kings of Burnham and Shearwater came into being in 1932. Kings did a wonderful job building her out of the finest materials. Shearwater is mentioned in the books as performing equally well, which has been confirmed many times since in the many cruises she has undertaken and classics races she has won.

Another previous owner, an ex pilot for Imperial Airways in the 1930s, lived aboard Shearwater for 16 years, and one occasion made a trip from Isle of Man back to the mainland with a MV Agusta motorbike and dog aboard! Any information gathered on Shearwater’s history will be passed on to new owner.

The current owners have renovated Shearwater, kept her to a high standard, and have been on many adventures with her around Anglesey and as far as Brittany and the Outer Hebrides. She is now looking for a new owner to love and take care of her and enjoy new adventures of their own.

Disclaimer

The Company offers the details of this vessel in good faith but cannot guarantee or warrant the accuracy of this information nor warrant the condition of the vessel. A buyer should instruct his agents, or his surveyors, to investigate such details as the buyer desires validated. This vessel is offered subject to prior sale, price change, or withdrawal without notice.