BOAT builder Malcolm Bergin has completed one of his most demanding projects.
Malcolm, who runs Brighouse-based Tayberg Steel Boats, spent 20 months recreating a 1914 gentleman’s launch for an unnamed customer.
The launch, which measures more than 42ft from prow to stern and 10ft at its widest point, will be sailed on the Thames before finding a permanent home in France.
The stunning boat is based on a vessel which the customer saw in Amsterdam. He took a series of photographs of the craft, which Malcolm used as the basis for his design.
Among its features, the boat has a distinctive v-shaped bottom and canoe back.
At the customer’s request, it also has dual steering – allowing the proud owner to steer from the wheelhouse or from the roof.
The steel boat has been fitted out with reclaimed timber, including a church pew, which pulls out of its setting to create a bed.
The painted steel hull has been “scrumbled” and grained to look like teak while the bathroom on board has a pull-down sink salvaged from an old railway sleeper carriage. There is also a 100-year-old reclaimed radiator.
The hand-built craft is powered by a 50bhp diesel engine and unusually features a nine-metre long drive shaft.
Malcolm, who declined to reveal the cost of the vessel, said: “These launches were the playthings of wealthy gentlemen in the Edwardian era.”
He added: “I specialise in unusual projects, but this one had particular challenges because it is the first of its kind that I have attempted.
“The shaping at the front and canoe back were unusual and difficult to get right.”
Malcolm began his career in metalwork as a boilermaker at Turnbridge engineering firm WC Holmes before joining a Brighouse boat building business.
He set up his own company 23 years ago with help from the Enterprise Allowance. He has gone on to specialise in building replica craft, including narrow Dutch barges, tugs, Edwardian pleasure boats and even a Victorian Thames police launch.
