The shipyard is still very young. But the people behind it have been rooted in the industry for years. First and foremost Richard Matthews. In 2008, he sold his majority stake in the luxury manufacturer Oyster Marine. Now the enterprising Brit wants to launch a new label with lots of fresh ideas. Gunfleet Marine is the name of the shipyard in Colchester on the east coast of England, named after a notorious sandbank nearby.
The first model is the Gunfleet 43, first presented last autumn as the Gunfleet 395, but the project has since grown to include a large forecastle at the stern of the boat. This was not initially planned. The concept envisages a centre cockpit, well protected with a sprayhood fitted as standard, but without a fixed windscreen as on many other yachts with a centre cockpit. Special feature: the coaming is extended like a flank all the way to the stern. This opens the cockpit to the rear and allows a real sunbed on the aft deck. The many windows and hatches on the superstructure and on the raised sun deck at the rear are striking. The Gunfleet 43 has a fairly high mast, but is equipped with a slightly overlapping genoa (105 per cent). This keeps the sheet paths short, which makes handling on deck easier.
Inside, the fit-out standard should meet even the highest demands. The layout below deck remains classic in line with the centre cockpit configuration, with a large owner's cabin in the stern and a second cabin in the foredeck. The galley is arranged lengthways in the aft passageway.
The prototype is currently being finalised and is due to be launched in August. There is also an initial price estimate: the Gunfleet 43 will cost around 607,000 euros. According to the shipyard, the ship is already equipped as standard so that even blue-water sailors can set sail with it straight away.
Technical data Gunfleet 43:
Lüa hull length: 13.20 m
LWL waterline length: 11.70 m
Width: 4.07 m
Draught: 2.10 m
Total weight: 12.4 tonnes
Mainsail: 44.0 square metres
Genoa: 34.6 square metres
Michael Good
Editor Test & Technology
