CHRISTOBEL
EDWARDIAN GENTLEMAN’S LAUNCH - 1911
CHRISTOBEL
10 Guests and 2 Crew
Outside covered seating
Beautiful inside salon
Restroom & flushing WC
Kitchen area
A Little Luxury on The Thames, 'Christobel' is an Edwardian 30’ Gentleman’s Launch. Now well over 110 years old, Christobel has recently undergone a 4 year restoration by Andy Golding of Golding Bros. She’s looking beautiful.
Henry Clarke commissioned the boat to be built by George Mollet in 1911, at his yard in Girlings Lane in Thorpe, Norwich. He named the boat after his daughter, Cristobel, pictured above, who was a keen sailor herself. It appears that the boat’s name has picked up an ‘H’ in her long history.
Christobel, a 30’ Gentleman’s Launch built in 1911 by George Mollett & co in Thorpe, Norfolk. She’s made of carvel teak planking on oak ribs. There is little more known about her from that time other than Clarke had sold her by 1935. We have no records of transfer, but she was found in a state of complete disrepair in Bourne End, Buckinghamshire, in the early 1980s. Her new owner, John Fruin, then chairman of Warner Bros., asked a local boatbuilder, Stephen Green, to carry out a full restoration. Boat enthusiasts might like to know that the cabin was designed by Green and built of Burmese teak, recovered from the bottom of the Irish Sea having been strapped to the foredeck of a freighter that sunk in the 1930’s with a hold full of copper ingots.
Christobel was sold on again in 1987 to Geoffrey Perfect. It was car enthusiast Perfect who had the Watermota and J-type gearbox fitted that still power Christobel to this day. Some time after this, Christobel was operated as a private charter launch in Sonning and was a regular sight in her green livery at the Henley Regatta.
In 2017, poor Christobel was again found looking tired and in need of urgent structural repairs. She was purchased by Golding Brothers and has undergone another full restoration taking over 4 years of painstaking work by Andy Golding and helpers. In particular, Tim Chappell spent literally hundreds of hours on the extensive revarnishing, to get her looking as beautiful as she does today. You can see the work in progress in the gallery of images below.
Christobel — A Short History
Her Early Beginnings
Henry Clarke originally commissioned the boat while he was managing director of the Maid’s Head and Royal Hotels in Norwich. He had also been the Commodore of the Yare Sailing Club since 1906. His daughter Cristobel successfully raced the Norfolk 14 foot restricted class dinghy, often in a boat called Bubbles that is still going strong today. You can see her leading a race here in No. 3 Bubbles, circa 1908.
George was well known as a builder of racing yachts as well as building some of the early steam launches. He is described in the 1911 census as a boatbuilder and river tax collector. We’re sure George would be very happy to see people still enjoying Christobel on the river some 110 years later!
The Restoration - Andy’s labour of love
Christobel has been owned by the Golding Bros family since 2017. Her complete restoration can be seen below and included structural work to strengthen the engine mounting beams and recorking the hull. After a complete engine rebuild and rewire, the outside was lovingly sanded and 14 coats of varnish were used to create the award winning finish you see today. The inside salon and decking was finished off with beautiful soft furnishings, some of which were crafted by Cynthia Golding, widow of Dennis Golding, the late proprietor of the Golding Bros business.
Originally Christobel was steam driven is but currently running the Watermota engine and powertrain fitted by Green in the 1980s. However future plans are to make her solely electric driven.
History Credits
We have a few people to thank for providing the history of Christobel. To all boat enthusiasts, thank you — this has been fascinating research.
Nick Williams, Secretary, Thorpe History Group Thorpe History Group (thorpe-history-group.org)
Jamie Campbell, Boat Historian, Norfolk
