A VINTAGE motor yacht designed by renowned Rosneath boatbuilding form James A. Silver and Son has gone up for sale in an online auction – but while you may not need deep pockets to buy it, you certainly will if you hope to restore it.
The 30-foot long, wooden-hulled yacht, built in 1935 and currently on the stocks at a boatyard in Devon, was posted for sale on eBay at the weekend - and as this article was published on Saturday morning, bidding had reached the dizzy heights of...£22.
That may, at least in part, be because of the warning posted by the seller, eBay user ‘squizzyh’, who tells prospective buyers: “Needs complete restoration. Absolutely everything will need to be done.
“This really is a project for an experienced individual who would want to give her a total rebuild over time. I’m afraid I don’t have the experience or time to restore her.”
Bidding closes at 9.50pm this Sunday, March 21 and you can keep track of the bidding at ebay.co.uk/itm/1935-30ft-long-James-Silvers-of-Rosneath-classic-motor-yacht-for-restoration-/224386332
The firm of James A. Silver and Son crafted an enviable reputation for quality design and boatbuilding through much of the early part of the 20th century, but according to the website of the yard’s present-day occupants, Silvers Marine Services, that company fell into financial difficulty after the Second World War as the size of the yachts built at the yard increased and turnover fell.
The firm went into liquidation in 1970 and was eventually bought in 1976 and renamed D.M. Russell Ltd.
But this venture, too, failed, and the yard fell into receivership in 1982, before being purchased a year later by its current owners, the Arthur Duthie Group, who renamed it Silvers Marine Services.
The company was taken over by GSS Marine Ltd in 2014 and is still in operation at the site.
The original James Silver was an apprentice at the yard in the late 19th century and later bought it from its founder, Peter R. McLean, though Mr Silver was a better yacht designer than a businessman and he sold the firm in 1916.
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