Custom Dallimore Bermuda Ketch

Brokers Comments

BLUE TROUT is the largest expression of the remarkable designer-builder relationship between Norman E Dallimore and William King & Sons that majored on fast cruisers with classic good looks, attention to detail, the finest of materials and great sailing qualities. And she may be one of the best proven, having taken her present owner safely and comfortably, singlehanded from Greece to England - with a little detour across the Atlantic via the Canaries and Antigua along the way. In more recent seasons, though sailing less miles, she has been very carefully cared for and upgraded, remaining afloat and well covered from the elements when out of commission. BLUE TROUT retains the capability of heading once again to blue waters very comfortably.

History

NORMAN E DALLIMORE DESIGN No. 208a

The man who would state his occupation as "Fishing" in the passenger list of the Canadian Pacific liner RMS DUCHESS of ATHOLL on a May-June 1936 voyage from Montreal to Liverpool might be expected to name his yacht after a fish. The man was commissioning owner 41-year-old George James Smart, an Essex gentleman of independent means, presumably a keen angler, and a member of Southend-on-Sea's Alexandra and Nore Yacht Clubs, Colne Yacht Club at Brightlingsea, Rochester Cruising Club, and Westcliff Yacht Club at Westcliff-on-Sea. During the build she was listed in 1937 Lloyd Register of Yachts as "To be named as DAB IV", and his DAB II in the same register was a 52ft Brooke twin screw motor yacht. However she was launched as BLUE TROUT - by Miss Vera Wilkinson on Tuesday 27 July 1937 - and still is. At the time she was the largest yacht to be launched at Burnham-on-Crouch - perhaps that record still stands. Recent archive discoveries show the contract price of £4,500, but with Dallimore's 4% of actual build cost fees invoice revealing that this rose to £5,750.

She was originally a bermudan cutter, capable of carrying a very large masthead yankee jib and with an adjustable backstay to a boomkin, thereby reducing safety need in her running backstays when negotiating her tight home waters. The sail wardrobe was by Cranfield, and auxiliary power came from a 40hp 4 cylinder National Diesel auxiliary engine.

During her first full season in commission,1938, she raced with some measure of success at Burnham Week, winning the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club's coveted Burnham Town Cup from a fleet that included well known names such as DIADEM (Fred Shepherd), THE BLUE PETER (Alfred Mylne) and MAID OF MALHAM (Laurent Giles).

After the second world war, BLUE TROUT briefly appeared under the ownership of Cyril E Harper of Hyde Park Mansions, London, quickly followed by RB Bingham, most probably the owner who fitted her out at Camper & Nicholson and sailed BLUE TROUT to the Mediterranean where she was to stay for over 30 years. The story goes that the 1947 delivery from Southampton to Antibes was under a Captain Johnson who left her in Marseille because there was no more whisky on board. Her accommodation was rebuilt there in sycamore, a GM 2 cylinder 71hp engine was installed. In 1965 Captain Michel Fuega re-rigged her with the present day very handy ketch rig, and at some stage she became French flagged: though not in Lloyd's Register of Yachts 1970-1979, she does appear in the very last edition of 1980 under the ownership of J.M. Manchec of Athens, registered in Nantes, France, with home port, Rhodes, Greece.

The current owner found her in Piraeus, Greece, in 1982 in a badly run-down state, returned her to the British register and sailed her back to England for a complete refit at Faversham, Kent, the start of a long period of care and refits by Alan Staley there. BLUE TROUT was restored to her former luxurious state, with beautifully hand-made interiors and a new Nanni engine was installed. Most of her voyaging since the mid 1980s has been single handed - even her participation in the first ARC transatlantic race in 1986 and the subsequent completion of an Atlantic circuit. Since then she has cruised UK and Mediterranean waters and has been lovingly maintained with a programme of refits and maintenance. In 2015-16 during further comprehensive works, a new Perkins M135 diesel engine was installed.

BLUE TROUT has always been a joy to sail and behold.

Construction

- 2 in Burma teak carvel planking on sawn oak frames and bent oak timbers
- Copper sheathed underbody
- Iron keel, 14 tons
- Teak laid deck

Deck Equipment and Ground Tackle

From aft

- Mizzen boom gallows
- 2 x Panama fairleads thru bulwark leading to stout centreline galvanised double bollard

Deep cockpit with wheel steering
- 4 x Self tailing chromed sheet winches
- Mizzen mast and deckhouse immediately forward
- 4 x Large ventilation cowls on deckhouse roof
- Companionway in deckhouse to engine room
- Main boom gallows at fwd deckhouse

Butterfly skylight to aft stateroom
- Dorade boxes and cowls port and starboard

Raised companionway to accommodation

Laurent Giles style running backstay levers port & starboard

Butterfly skylight to saloon
- Tender stowage over

Panama spring line fairleads thru bulwark port & starboard leading to galvanised double bollards

Main mast
- Self tailing halyard winches
- Pin rails and running light boxes at shrouds

- Stowage boxes port & starboard
- Single davit to port
- Sliding track for staysail boom sheeting

Raised companionway forehatch
- Skylight in sliding part
- Deadlight ports to sides
- Large Dorade box with large chromed cowl vent immediately fwd
- Mushroom deck vent to port over galley

Substantial (hydraulic - tbc) windlass and warping drum
- Dorade box and large chromed cowl vent immediately fwd of windlass
- Large deck prism fwd

- 2 x Panama fairleads thru bulwark leading to stout galvanised double bollards port and starboard

Accommodation and Domestic Equipment

8 x berths in 3 x cabins
Much light comes from 5 x topside opening ports each side

Entry from companionway forward of deckhouse

Aft master cabin
- 4 x berths (2 x double)
- Stowage under 
- Dresser and large mirror on aft bulkhead
- Opening ports port and starboard
- Blakes WC and shower

Midships cabin
2 x bunks
- Stowage

Midships shower room with Blakes WC

Saloon
- Solid fuel stove
- Chart table & navigation equipment
- Flat screen TV
- Drop leaf table
- Settees convertible to 2 x bunks

Galley forward
- 2 x Bunks to starboard
- 4 x Burner hob
- Microwave oven
- Fridge Waeco CoolMatic CR-110
- Hot water system
- Heating system

Rig Spars and Sails

Sails (Wilkinson 1984)
- Main, battened
- Mizzen
- Genoa
- Staysail 
- Storm jib
- Cockpit dodgers port and starboard
- Boom covers
- Awnings
- Winter covers

Mechanical Electrical and Tankage

Access to engine room via deckhouse
- Perkins M130 6cy naturally aspirated 130hp Diesel (2015)
- 99kW (133hp) @2600 rpm
- Generator Vetus 8kw/h
- Hydraulic wheel steering
- Mild steel fuel tanks
- Shore power and generato supplied 220 V AC system
- 12 V and 24 V DC system
- Battery Charger Sterling PCU2430

Navigation Communication and Electronics

- Steering Compass in brass binnacle
- Autopilot Autohelm 6000
- Raymarine C Series Radar 
- Raymarine DSM300 Sonar
- Ship to shore radio VHF Icom IC-M423 + remote
- VHF Back-up Icom IC-M323
- GPS chart plotter.
- Navtex weather ICS.

Safety

- 2 x Life rafts 4 person
- Engine room auto fire system
- 8 Fire extinguishers
- Auto bilge pumping sytstem 2000GPH

Other Equipment

- Tender

Photo Credit

- Photo 6: Courtesy of Arthur Beale Ltd (https://arthurbeale.co.uk)
- Photos 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 23: Jim Dines
- Photos 14 & 15: Norman E Dallimore Association Facebook Page

Disclaimer

These particulars have been prepared from information provided by the vendors and are intended as general guide. The purchaser should confirm details of concern to them by survey or engineers inspection. The purchaser should also ensure that the purchase contract properly reflects their concerns and specifies details on which they wish to rely.