Admiralty British Powerboat Company

A lovely classic Ex-Admiralty 45’ motor yacht, recently having completed a comprehensive professional refurbishment programme to her hull, copper sheathing, decks, handrails and interiors.
 
With a comfortable interior that sleeps 4/5 in twin cabins, twin heads / shower rooms, galley, generous Pilothouse / Saloon, heating and elegant mahogany interior she would make a very striking, flexible and practical ‘Livaboard’.
 
With her twin screws, elegant lines, brightwork, teak decks and somewhat eclectic history, she equally makes for the archetypal ‘Gentleman’s Cruiser’.
 
Sheilana has recently completed a comprehensive refurbishment programme to her hull, deck and interiors at the well-respected yard of Andrew Oliver, Emsworth – classic shiprights.  With her new paintwork, varnished brightwork and scrubbed teak decks, she looks very good is attracting numerous compliments.
 
Her twin Perkins engines have been professionally serviced.  Her half-shafts have been removed, disassembled and new bearings fitted.  The hydraulic steering has been serviced.  With a pair of new starter batteries fitted, she now starts first time, running – in the words of the Marine engineer – sweetly at idle.
 
She does smoke at higher revs.  This may be because she was unwittingly overfilled with oil when the engines were flushed and she has yet to have a full run down the harbour.
 
The starboard gearbox does rattle.  Oil levels need to be checked.  We expect that the gearbox WILL NEED to be stripped and reconditioned before she is taken out on an extended run.
 
The asking price has been fully DISCOUNTED to reflect these works.
 
We are selling Sheilana on behalf of an elderly parent. Significant expenditure has been made and is fully documented. The bulk of the work is now done other than the likely works outlined above.
 
In her current state she will make for a very special liveaboard.  Completing the work on the gearbox however would allow her to venture out properly.  To get her back to her full prime a new owner may choose to recondition the gearbox/s or may plan to undertake a more comprehensive programme of works to her drivetrain and ancilliaries.
 
Rather than second guess any plans and potentially commission work that would otherwise be wasted / superceeded by a different programme of works, we have been advised that it would be better to leave this decision to the next owner.  As such the asking price has been heavily discounted in-line with input from specialists to reflect this.  Sheilana is offered a ‘more than fair price’ and is priced to sell.

HISTORY
 
Sheilana was commissioned by the Ministry of Defence for the British Admiralty in 1943 and built by the British Power boat Company (ref newspaper articles) to serve as an RAF rescue boat.  She was delivered in 1945 after the end of the Second World War ended but never entered into service.
 
As with all Admiralty wooden boats at that time she was copper bottomed and had a reinforced bow sheathed with a bronze bar for ramming. She also had a brig in the forward cabin. She was originally powered by twin 100bhp Meadows petrol engines giving a maximum speed of 29 knots.
 
She was sold by the MOD in 1946 to a ‘Sloane Square Gentleman’ and was converted into a motor cruiser for pleasure at the Hampton Launch Works, Hampton. She plied her trade on the Thames for many years. In approximately 1970 she went to the Mediterranean where she seemed to have had a fairly chequered history. It is rumoured that she was working as a ‘runner’ taking cigarettes from North Africa to Marseilles.
 
Around 1990 she returned to UK shores and was moored in the Bristol Corporate Marina for 7 years. The owner at that time sadly died in a motorbike accident and Sheilana was impounded for unpaid dock dues. She was sold by Bristol Council to an Mr Walter Davis. He spent a number of years on an extensive refurbishment programme completed in 2008 (ref photo album). This included refitting of the hull, new bulkheads, deck, superstructure, new Perkins engines and a new interior. The majority, although not all of these works, were carried out by Mr D Cockwell of Underfall Yard, Bristol, now Rockwell's of Falmouth. She was sold in 2008 to the present owner. She has since been based in Dover providing hours of enjoyment pottering around the harbour and surrounding areas.
 
In 2022 Sheilana was transported to Andrew Olivers yard in Emsworth for a full refurbishment. Over a period of 6 months the port side has been rebuilt and repairs made to the starboard side. All of the copper sheathing has been checked and replaced as required. All of the wood, both hull and deck, has been treated. Part of the interior woodwork had been replaced. The interior has been completely refurbished. The engines have been serviced. She is now moored in Chichester harbour.

DOCUMENTATION
 
Full service history
Full library of manuals
Insurance history
Historic sales history
Pre purchase survey – 5th July 1965
Pre purchase survey – 4th February 2000
Pre purchase survey – 17th November 2007
Photo album of works – 2005 – 2008
Photo album of works – 2023
Insurance survey – 2018
 
Sheilana can be viewed by arrangement on her berth at Chichester Marina.