Like all good stories, the story of the Drascombe range of boats commences:

‘Once upon a time, there was a man who had a wife who did not like sailing (silly girl); and it came to pass that one day she refused to go at all, just because the bilge water had left stains on the inside of the coach roof off Cap Croisetter! I ask you… how unreasonable can you get? Anyway this chap worked out that he had 3 choices: 1) the divorce courts, 2) swallowing the anchor for good, or 3) designing a really safe seaworthy ‘family’ boat. Thus the Drascombe Lugger was born.’

The prototype design featured an inboard engine, but there could not be found a suitable engine which could be hand started. So one morning over his second bowl of cornflakes, the answer came in a blinding flash... an outboard in an inboard/outboard role, with the rudder forward of the engine. That was early in 1965, and by the late summer the first Drascombe Lugger was launched.

The boat suited the family needs to perfection, the loose-footed yawl rig with its sails stowing furled against the mast gave room for a large day party. The boat sailed well under jib and mizzen whilst mackerel trolling, and the high Mediterranean-style gunwale with its sweeping sheer kept everything nice and dry.

It wasn’t long before admirers were trying to persuade John Watkinson to build them one along the same lines. Enquiries and interest built up to such an extent that despite being retired and, I quote, “having no thoughts of selling her or breeding from her,” the designer arranged for Kelly and Hall, the company he had once owned, to go into production in plywood.

The first boat was exhibited at that year’s London Boat Show and was sold within the first half hour. The rest of the story is well known: in 1968 36 wooden luggers were sold, and it was one of these which David Pyle used for his epic voyage to Australia. In 1969 Honnor Marine started production of the GRP Lugger. In 1970 John Watkinson persuaded Honnor Marine to produce the Longboat as a Youth Trainer, after having made the plug at his own expense! The cuddy Longboat followed almost immediately. In 1971 came the Drascombe Skiff, a 14’ 6” double-ender that can be easily rowed, yet with her 57 sq ft unstayed lugsail can see off a Mirror in a breeze.

Surprisingly, this is the only boat in the Drascombe range that has not been an instant success, and yet John Elliott of Yealmbridge tells me that he still gets a steady trickle of orders. In 1972 the Dabber appeared; the thinking behind this was to keep all the qualities of the Lugger, but in a much shorter boat. The ‘in line’ configuration of rudder and outboard would not follow, so the hull form of the skiff was used and ‘sawn off’ at the transom with the outboard side trunked. 1973 saw another double-ender — the Peterboat, some 20’ L.O.A. Honnor Marine were not impressed, but experiments with an elongated Dabber given a skeg and two minute bilge keels convinced them that such a boat would get to windward. So the Dabber plug was returned to the designer, and he set about cutting it in half and adding a bit in the middle, thus the Driver, with its built-in 3 H.P. Watermota. John Watkinson has one for his personal use, and confides that out of all his designs she is his favourite.

The little air cooled motor has never failed, and he gets ½ gallon of fuel to last him all day. Show me an outboard that can equal that!

What can we the admiring public expect in the future… what’s new? John Watkinson tells me that he has one on the board and one in his head. The one on the board has yet to convince Honnor Marine, but I am assured we should be seeing her before long. As to the one in his head... too early yet.

Like the very first lugger, these are all sensible and practical craft, ideal for dinghy cruising or even fishing under sail as in days of old. For the discerning man who is tired of sailing ‘performance’ dinghies, whose stability is noted only for its absence and whose speed is directly proportionate to the number of capsizes per mile, these craft offer an interesting alternative.