Maurice Griffiths’ Waterwitch

Waterwitch Billentot seen in Whitby harbour

Waterwitch is the big sister to Maurice Griffiths’ famous shoal draft Eventide design. If you can forgive her boxy hull, I think she makes a good family cruiser, with her inboard rig and triple keel – some might even manage to live on board all year round. I noticed the one pictured above in Whitby harbour during the regatta and talked with the owner, who told me he had bought it cheaply and had spent some time bringing her up to standard. It looked to me then and now as if he’d done a good job.

Plans for building the boat are now available on a CD for the astonishingly reasonable price of £5 from the Eventide Owners Group Waterwitch page. (The EOG is also selling CDs of Eventide plans for the same price.)

There’s a mention of the Waterwitch in an obituary published in the Independent newspaper ten years ago.

There aren’t too many around for sale, but here are a few I found:

●Sail no 26

●The EOG classfieds page

●Steel Waterwitch

●Wooden Ships has one for sale

●So has the Royal Naval Sailing Association

●And for those of you in the North, there’s also one for sale at Amble

Happy browsing, MG fans…

Try our new customised Google search gizmo: