'Rainbow'

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DESIGNED: 1920 by James Taylor & Bates of Chertsey-on-Thames

REBUILT & RELAUNCHED: 1998 by Peter Freebody & Co. of Hurley-on-Thames

LENGTH: 35ft BEAM: 6ft 8in DRAFT: 2ft

BUILT OF: Mahogany on Oak with Teak decks and furnishings

POWERED BY: Her original 1920 Gardner 4BCR Petrol Engine restored and improved to provide for electric starting.  This reliable engine is one of the earliest examples of a Petrol engine and was previously on display at the National Motorboat Museum.

 

 

'Rainbow' is one of only six surviving launches of its type.  Our patron for the restoration of "Rainbow", having been impressed by the standard of our work which he saw at the Thames Traditional Boat Rally in 1997, invited me to seek out a launch which we could restore to perfection.  Taking his instruction, we subsequently found "Rainbow's" hull in a barn in Suffolk in a sorry state..  She spent the first half of 1998 in our workshops, where she was sensitively brought back to life, culminating in her being launched in time for Henley Royal Regatta and later being awarded the Osland Trophy for Structural Restoration and overall winner for Best Boat in Show - Shiela Bourne Trophy - at the Thames Traditional Boat Rally, Henley, July 1998.

 

Complete with all upholstery and overall cover.