Wooden Ships Comments A fastidiously maintained excellent example of a pre-war Laurent Giles Vertue, built by Harry Kimber of Bridgewater in 1939 for a Colonel John Munn. Her build was finished to the highest quality with choice materials used throughout. Her design and interior layout followed very closely that of the other Vertues built, until at some stage in her life she had a professional refit in Falmouth when her mast was altered to a deck stepped arrangement giving more space below, her coachroof redesigned with more camber to increase headroom in the saloon and her first engine was fitted. During the current 30 year ownership she has been well loved and cared for with a refit before being laid up ashore in 2002. After many years in the shed a major refit was started in 2016 and was completed in 2017. She is currently still ashore in immaculate condition and ready to be commissioned and launched. During the refit the ballast keel was dropped, wood keel repaired, new garboards and floors, new keel bolts and new deadwoods fitted. The engine was reconditioned and the whole boat given a cosmetic refit inside and out. she has a very lightly used set of Hood sails in excellent condition. Inspected by Wooden Ships recently with a full set of photographs and details available. Length on Deck 25’ 3” Length Waterline 21’ 6” Beam 7’ 2” Draft 4’ 6” Construction Pitch pine planking, fastened with copper rivets and roves. Sawn English oak frames with steamed intermediate Canadian rock elm timbers. External iron ballast keel with mild steel keel bolts all replaced late 2016. Oak keel repaired as necessary and deadwoods all replaced in 2016. Floors across the centreline are grown oak with some galvanised steel straps. Deck is tongue and groove yellow pine, canvas covered. Coach roof coamings in Burma/Myanmar teak with a sheathed plywood coachroof deck. Tiller steering with long or short tiller options. Bronze deck fittings. Galvanised iron stemhead fittings. Bronze chain roller. Rig Bermudan masthead slutter rig. Usually sailed as sloop but with a removable inner forestay she can be used a cutter. Deck stepped spruce mast with a steel compression post below. Stainless steel standing rigging, intermediate and lower shrouds replaced 2001. Rigging screws and toggles are bronze. Galvanised iron internal chain plates. Bronze Highfield levers for running backstays. Running rigging includes Hemplait halyards, sheets and topping lift. Pair of bronze non self tailing cockpit sheet winches and a pair of bronze mast winches. Full set of virtually new Hood sails, hardly used, including main, two genoas and four jibs all excellent condition. Booming-out pole. Mains’l cover in excellent condition. Machinery Yanmar 1GM10 10hp marine diesel engine. Installed new 1995 with 128 running hours since. Removed 2016, professional overhaul 2017, reinstalled and tested July 2017. Teleflex single lever controls and 3 blade propeller offset to port. 3 gallon stainless steel fuel tank. Single 12v battery with isolator switch, electric starter motor and engine warning light panel. Accommodation 3 berths with 2 saloon settee berths and a pipe cot forward. Francolin has a fairly typical layout down below. Her interior was redesigned to maximise use of space and it has a light and airy feel. Every surface has a fresh coat of paint or varnish. From the bow, the forepeak stows her beaching legs and spare sail wardrobe to starboard. There is a fold-down cot berth to port. An original Baby Blake sea heads, rebuilt in 2017 and with a hinged wooden cover on the centreline. Looking aft and moving beyond the main mast compression post, she has two saloon berths and plenty of locker and shelf stowage in the saloon. The starboard side has a good sized cupboard with fiddled surface above it. The saloon bunks are upholstered in green fabric, with a trotter box under the fixed chart table aft. It has a chart drawer underneath with brass handles, a fiddled chart table, teak pencil holder and electronics panel against the bulkhead. Moving aft on the port side has space for a table stowage, locker and magazine shelves. Lockers line the hull next to the saloon berth with a trotter box for extra length. Moving aft again on the port side brings us to the Simpson Lawrence Tilley Talisman gimballed gas stove and galley stowage space. Bulkheads are T&G with good access to the hull behind. All internal doors are wooden slatted to encourage air circulation throughout. All paintwork is fresh. If varnish and highfield levers are your thing, with a simple balanced rig, Francolin is the one. She is a virtually new classic and the hard work has been done. Her new owner will be in a strong position to viably maintain her to the high standards she has become accustomed to, whilst enjoying comfortable and rewarding sailing wherever she goes next. Equipment x2 Henderson manual bilge pumps Comprehensive engine spares Plastimo Contest steering compass Navico echosounder, log and VHF. Garmin GPS 45 with powered mounting. Autohelm 800 autopilot. 1 Simpson Lawrence 35lb CQR anchor 1 Sowester 25lb CQR kedge anchor 60m x 5/16” galvanised tested anchor chain 48m x ¼” galvanised chain 12lb Anchoring Angel Beaching legs Stainless Steel custom pushpit (not fitted) Stainless Steel sprayhood frame (not fitted) Two grown oak tillers with autopilot fittings 13ft sweep and rowlock Full complement of other accessories including day shapes, warps and bosun’s chair. Full complement of safety gear including life jackets, harnesses, and a 50m streaming warp Full details available upon request Disclaimer: These particulars have been prepared in good faith from information provided by the Vendors and are intended as a guide, Wooden Ships cannot guarantee or warrant the accuracy of this information nor warrant the condition of the vessel. The Purchaser should instruct his agent or surveyor to validate all details as necessary and satisfy himself with the condition of the vessel and its equipment.
