Fleur de Lys Motor Yacht

                                        Fleur de Lys Twin engined motor yacht                                                                                                      

Length on deck                                    52’

Beam                                                   15’

Draft                                                     5’

Thames Tonnage                               48 TM   .            

Displacement                                       approx 30 tons                       

Year of build                                       1965      

The Fleur de Lys range of motor yachts were built by the Dagless Yacht Co of Wisbech, Cambs. They were built in a range of sizes from the smallest at 51’ to the largest at 93’ to initial designs by Jack Francis Jones with Peter Brown as the supervising surveyor under the direction of J.E. Dagless.

The early 51’ Continental was later increased to 52’6” followed by the 63’Flagship, the 73’ Ambassador and the 93’ President. Some carried a Bermudian ketch steadying rig, some had an open, naval bridge.

The Fleur de Lys is a conservative, long-keeled design with transom stern, plenty of freeboard and nicely flared bows. Unusually, this boat has a large deep cock-pit in the aft deck with a door to the aft cabin and is believed to be the only Fleur de Lys built with Lloyds 100A1 certification.

Planked in 1 7/16” iroko on 4 ½” x 2 ½” sawn iroko frames with steamed oak or rock elm intermediates on an iroko back-bone with a laminated stem and apron and a double skin iroko, gently radiussed,  transom. The fastenings are gun metal screws in the sawn frames, clenched copper nails in the steamed timbers and galvanised through bolts elsewhere.

Ballast is by an almost full-length cast iron 2 ½ ton external keel secured with 1” crown iron bolts hot dipped in tar. The sawn frames span the centre-line and carry the keel bolts to make a very robust back-bone.

Single steel plate rudder driven by rod and gear from a port side helm position with traditional teak spoked wheel.

Teak deck laid over a ply sub deck. The deck has been treated with Coelan which gives a totally water-tight surface with varnished finish. A non-slip surface is obtained by sprinkling with invisible ground glass while the product cures.

Twin Gardner 5LW 98hp 5-cyl diesels installed new in 1965 to Lloyds specification for machinery.

Gardner 2UC handed gear-boxes.

Performance: 9knts @ 1250rpm@4.5gph for both engines.

Westerbeke 7.5Kva diesel generator in the after cock-pit locker.

1-cyl Yanmar diesel 24v charging plant in engine room with electric and hand start allows start from dead ship.

5 berths in 3 cabins

V-berths in a fore cabin, separate deck entrance, hand basin.

Centre door to the forward passageway with workshop and heads compartment to stbd

Single berth cabin to port.

Centre steps up to the deck saloon.

The engine room is under the saloon cabin with half height door access from forward and aft. For fuller access the carpet can be rolled back and the saloon floor boards lifted.

Centre steps aft down to the aft passageway with stbd heads and shower compartment.

Galley to port with gas cooker, gas and 240v fridge. New gas water heater

Bulkhead door at the far aft end of the corridor to owner’s cabin with double berth and seating, dressing table etc etc.

Centre steps and double doors up to the enormous, deep aft cock-pit.

Eberspacher hot air cabin heating

Brass cabin lights, parquet floors.

Recently new heads and showers gulper pumps

24v windlass, anchor and chain

Sounder/fish-finder

Huson 60 + Nasa VHF radios

Pinta auto-pilot

Simrad GP40 chart plotter

Furuno GPS

Navtex

Furuno radar

Vosper stabilisers (£1000 refit in 2006)

Avon 4 meter Searider (RIB) sports inflatable dinghy with 50hp Yamaha on aft davits.

An especially good quality Fleur de Lys, believed to be the only one built to Lloyds 100A1 with solid timber superstructure rather than the ply used in most of these motor yachts.

In very original condition with few modifications to the structure from build.

The 5 cylinder Gardners are often judged to be the best Gardner engine built, slow revving and very efficient, long-life engines with ample reserve power.

In present ownership the topsides have been resplined and repainted, the galley has been rebuilt, the shower compartment refitted and other small improvements made for live-aboard cruising.

After long ownership, she was sold by Wooden Ships in 2007 to the present owners. Unfortunately, ill-health now obliges them to offer her for sale.