Marcus Lewis offers a Lister engine for sale

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Neglected two-cylinder Lister engine going free to anyone who wants it!

Marcus Lewis is starting work on a Percy Mitchell-built tosher at his the workshop at Fowey. An early job has been taking out the old two-cylinder electric start Lister engine, which is now available free to anyone who wants to bring it back to life.

It’ll need some tinkering: Marcus says that it seems seized after lying idle for two or three years, but he doesn’t think it has been submerged. The chains and pawls etc have rusted as the photos show. He can lift engine out of boat and onto someones trailer if necessary.

If you’re interested, contact Marcus via his website at http://www.woodenboatbuilder.co.uk. The tosher itself is shown below if anyone’s interested in owning and caring for a traditional boat built by famous local boatbuilder Percy Mitchell – with luck you may find Marcus is still in search of an owner.

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Marcus Lewis’s boats take the lead in racing at Cornish regattas

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Fowey River dinghy No 54 Four Brothers sailing around before the start of the Polruan Regatta held on Bank Holiday Monday

Fowey boatbuilder Marcus Lewis has sent me this photo from Cornwall to mark a series of outstanding successes in local regattas.

After a week at Fowey Regatta in which she won three out of seven races ande claimed the Overall Cup for Fowey River dinghies, Four Brothers also raced to victory in the Polruan Regatta, in which she snapped up the Silver Cup.

In one race during Fowey Regatta No 54 was challenged by Marcus and Johnny Nance in No 53 Kingfisher but Four Brothers leapt into the lead on the last lap and took the winners gun.

Both boats were built by Marcus at his workshop in Fowey and were launched this year. See Marcus’s website: http://www.woodenboatbuilder.co.uk

Marcus is currently restoring a Mevagissey Tosher built by Percy Mitchell, and I understand the refurbished boat will be for sale.

A chance to own a 1932 Mevagissey tosher built by Cornish boat builder Percy Mitchell

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Fowey wooden boatbuilding specialist Marcus Lewis has written to say that he has acquired a genuine 18ft Percy Mitchell-built Mevagissey tosher built around 1932 that he is offering as a restoration project with himself doing the work.

Despite a few soft areas, he says she’s basically sound and would make a lovely day boat for any South West harbour or further afield. He’s planning to start stripping out the grotty bits shortly followed by a programme of work put together to ensure the survival of a classic craft. Contact him directly on 07973 420568 if you would like more information or would like to view her.

For those from outside the area, I should explain that Percy Mitchell of Portmellon was a very highly regarded boatbuilder in Cornwall. Claude Worth, for example, described him as ‘an artist in wood’.

Mitchell took over his employer’s yard in Mevagissey in his twenties and later moved the yard to Portmellon for easier launching. During World War II he built motor cutters and boats for the Admiralty. After the war his boats were in great demand; one of his most famous builds being the 28 ton Windstar, which the late King George V often sailed on, as did the young Princess Elizabeth, now Queen Elizabeth II.

Marcus tells me that Mitchell went on to write a well-known book, A Boatbuilder’s Story that covers his entire working life and the struggles and successes of a wooden boatbuilder. Copies are rarely available, says Marcus, but feels strongly that it should be reprinted.

See Marcus’s website: http://www.woodenboatbuilder.co.uk