Restoration Advice

Christian, the owner has asked me not to give away her location at this time as it is on a private birth and the other boat owners may get a bit twitchy if there were unplanned visits to her. However it is safe to say that she is still on the south coast awaiting further work.

She did deteriorate quite quickly when she was on the Hamble but then most things do when left alone for ten years. When my mate bought her in 1999, he was fully aware of the scale of the project and to his credit he has done a fantastic job, mainly on his days off of work, to bring her back from the brink.

Although there is still plenty to do what with fitting new engines, gear boxes etc. most of the serious structural work is complete and with luck this time next year she will be ready to go.

Cheers, A76NJK

Christian,

Its a shame that 2753 will have to wait a bit longer for her rebuild but i'm sure it will come. It would be fantastic to see a pair of Mk1b's in action once again.

2751 already has a pair of 215hp Perkins 6 cyl Diesels which I suspect would give displacement speed or slightly more, say 8-10 kts, but the plan is that the new (possibly reconditioned/remanufactured) engines will be equivalent horse power to the original i.e. 1500hp Diesel V12's. This should allow the original performance to be achieved although hopefully having only a fraction of the original Griffons fuel consumption. Safety is a big issue also, so having a couple of thousand gallons of petrol sloshing around would probably give the insurers a heart attack.

There are a number of issues to overcome though, not least financial. This size of Diesel engine weighs in the region of 4.5 tons each plus gearboxes etc. as opposed to the Sea Griffon weighing in at less than half that. However less fuel can be carried as the Diesel does not have the enormous thirst of the Griffon. Stronger barers may be required and a host of other things but I am confident that these problems can be overcome.

This is likely to be a big project and may cause a bit of a stir when she is relaunched in her original colour scheme. Nearer the time of the work beginning I will post more details and anyone who may be interested in having a look will be welcome. 

Cheers

A76NJK

Hello A76NJK

Re powerplants for 2751,an idea may be to charter MGB 81 for a few hours and see how she goes (40 kts apparently) with MAN diesels.

http://www.themilestonepartnership.co.uk/mgb81.html

Don,

Thanks for that. I have registered with the company and inserted a free advert. Lets see what turns up.

A76NJK