Stebbings 4-ton Sloop

The advertisement above is from Yaching Monthly October 1949. It describes the design that would later be used for the building of Branklet (1952), Roach (1953) and Souris (1954).

The identity of the boat in the photograph is not clear. It is carrying the sail number S1, suggesting that it might be Branklet (Roach has S2). However, Lloyds Register records show that Branklet wasn’t built until 1952, three years after the advert appeared. A bit confusing. There was a classified ad in the Essex Newsman in March 1950 listing a new 4-ton Dallimore design auxiliary sloop. That could have been for Doralind, perhaps, or maybe Branklet was built (but perhaps not completed) earlier than the date in Lloyds.

The Stebbings sloop was a reworking of the Burnham sloop, designed by Norman E. Dallimore before the second world war. The intention had been for them to be built by R.J. Prior and Son, Burnham, but only a few keels had been cast when the war intervened. An article in Yachting World from December 1945 described the design again, but at that point there was still uncertainty about the specification that could be offered given that there was no certainty about the quality and type of materials that would be available. The article says that it was hoped a prototype would be afloat early in the new year (1946). Interestingly, the YW Dec 1945 article shows two variations, one with a coach roof ending just before the mast, and the other a flush deck all the way to the stem.

Grey Friar

Grey Friar was completed by Stebbings in 1925. She was designed by Norman Dallimore and was 26.9 feet over all. She had a beam of 7.9 feet and drew 4’6″.

The first clue to her beginnings are in the photo of her in construction. The photo had originally been inscribed as “6 ton sloop Golden Plover … building at Coles Yard, Maldon”. However, the photo shows that these details had been altered, to read “Grey Friar Ex [Golden Plover]”, and Coles Yard has been struck out and replaced with “Wm. Stebbings & sons, Burnham”.

The second clue comes from the Chelmsford Chronicle, 10th August 1923. This records that the stock-in-trade of Cole & sons was to be auctioned off (following bankruptcy), and that the lots included a 6-ton cutter yacht “Golden Plover” that was under construction. Cole and sons had been based at the Shipways yard, Maldon, behind what is now the MarineStore chandlery.

The evidence seems to suggest that Golden Plover and Grey Friar were the same boat, started at Coles and then purchased by Stebbings at the Coles bankruptcy sale and finished later, presumably in Burnham, with the new name.

Roach

Roach was designed by Norman Dallimore and built by Stebbings in 1953. Her design was a re-working of the Burnham Sloop, the first of which was built by Priors. Roach and her sister ship Branklet were both chartered out by Blackwater Yacht Charters of Maldon, as was Souris, who may have been another sister.

Much more information Roach and her restoration can be found on the Roach’s Adventures blog. (A couple of the photos above have been copied from this site, the other is courtesy of Will at the Norman E. Dallimore Association).

Souris

Souris

Souris was designed by Norman Dallimore and built by Stebbings in 1954. Her design was probably a re-working of the Burnham Sloop, the first of which was built by Priors. As such, Souris may have been a sister ship of Branklet and Roach. She was also owned by Blackwater Yacht Charters, Maldon.

Her current whereabouts are unknown, but there is a note that she had been laid up ashore at Hollowshore, Oare Creek, off the Swale near Faversham.

Thanks to Will at the Norman E. Dallimore Association for permission to use the picture above.

Branklet

Branklet aground in the Swale, 1969.

Branklet was designed by Norman Dallimore and built by Stebbings in 1952. Her design was a re-working of the Burnham Sloop, the first of which was built by Priors. Branklet and her sister ship Roach were both chartered out by Blackwater Yacht Charters of Maldon.

More information on Branklet and Roach can be found on the Roach’s Adventures blog. (The photo above has been copied from this site).

Doralind

Doralind was designed by Norman Dallimore and built by Stebbings in 1949. She is 22′ LOA with a beam of 7′. She’s built of larch on oak and is stepped down at the tabernacle unlike three other Dallimore boats built by Stebbings a few years later (Roach, Souris and Branklet), which have a flush deck all the way to the bow. Doralind also has a deeper draught, at 4’6″.