G L Watson Motor Sailer 1964 - Sold

When the current owners of this vessel bought her in 2005, their surveyor, at the time commented that the 50ft Motor Sailer, FREDELA was an absolute joy to survey……adding “She was constructed to the highest standard and of the best materials.

It would be hard to find a better built or more characterful motorsailer of this length in such wonderful condition and totally ready for the season. A beautiful cruising boat, FREDELA, oozes charm.

A G.L. Watson design, built by Toughs of Teddington, launched in 1964, she is a big, full-bodied yacht with a long keel, canoe stern and a wonderful flair to the bow. She was bespoke built for the original owner Fred Francis a skilled engineer, who contributed much to many aspects of the yacht.

Comprehensive surveys were conducted in April 2002 and April 2005. Following the 2005 survey FREDELA has a certificate, (renewed in 2008), for MCA Small Commercial Vessel Coding and is certified for charter use, albeit she has never been chartered.

FREDELA has lots of deck space, with an easy walkway each side of the superstructure, spacious aft deck with a folding table and twin storage boxes. There are twin flush deck hatches in bronze frames. The lazarette aft is accessed by a deck hatch.

The accommodation in all original condition has a great feel of generous space and comfort is in 3 main sections - 2 cabins aft (3/4 berths), the wheelhouse and saloon with engine room under and a companion way through to a well equipped galley, heads with shower and a fore cabin (2 berths).

The large owner\'s cabin aft has generous berths with drawers under each and a dressing table between with mirror over on the white painted aft bulkhead. There two large hanging lockers with a door into the en-suite bathroom fitted with a sea toilet, basin and a full size pink bath. Mid bulkhead is a door to a small lobby, steps up to the wheel-house and a door either side; to starboard into the heads compartment and to port into a into a single berth cabin with generous berth and extra pipe cot, hand-basin and large hanging locker.

Headroom exceeds 6 ft throughout with white deck-head and light and ventilation from port holes. Joinery is of oak in the aft cabins and teak in the wheel-house, saloon and forward cabin. The boat is carpeted or teak decked throughout.

In the wheel-house the helm is to port with doors to the deck on each side. There is excellent visibility all round through bronze framed windows with winders to drop them. On the port side of the companionway against the aft wheelhouse bulkhead is a single upholstered seat, in green vinyl: to starboard is a drawer unit for tools with a flat surface chart table, all in varnished teak. A box rises up from this flat surface on an electric screw jack mechanism; this box originally contained a large radio. The electrical control panel is placed alongside the helm by the forward companionway.

Centre steps go down forward into the sunken deck saloon, a spacious cabin with good light and ventilation from the wind down windows with full a span window forward. In the aft starboard corner by the steps is a surface over a drinks cabinet unit with cocktail bar whose lid doubles as a second chart table. A further cupboard and drawer unit is alongside. To port of the steps is L-shaped upholstered seating. Forward to starboard is an extendable table with a bench seat and four chairs.

Centre-line steps go down forward to a passageway into the fore cabin. To port is a heads compartment with electric Lavac sea WC and shower, all with original chromed fittings. To starboard is the galley with a stainless steel surface along the ships side with 2 sinks forward and 3 electric hobs with a big, fold-up fiddle rail around them. Against the aft bulkhead the stainless steel surface continues with built-in deep-freeze and 24 V fridge. Against the forward bulkhead is a recessed microwave oven with shelves above.
Louvered teak door to the fore cabin with V-berths, 6 ft headroom, hatch to deck over, drawers under the berth all in varnished teak. The forward bulkhead has small door to the chain locker.

Fred Francis engineer and founder of Minimodels Ltd then inventor of the Scalextric slot electric model racing car system, had a passion both for flying and sailing. Successive yachts and boats gave way led to FREDELA. Notably she was fitted with an electric winch of his own design, which was to prove commercially viable leading to further developments and the successful Francis winches – used by the RNLI among others - and furling gear. Meanwhile FREDELA provided the perfect medium for his and his family’s pleasure, whether on the canals of France or in the Med.

- Teak planking (1 ½ in) with a perfectly fair external finish, all copper fastened to 4 x 3 in laminated oak frames at 2 ft centers with 2 steamed timbers between, doubled across the keelson.
- External lead ballast keel with bronze bolts + some internal lead trimming ballast.
- 20 bronze portholes in the topsides.
- Classic solid teak deck laid to a king plank, caulked and laid with butyl rubber, varnished teak toe-rails and moulded cover-boards, guard rails over on bronze stanchions with a teak capping rail.
- Heavy bronze cleats and fair leads and twin chain rollers on the stemhead.
- The superstructure is varnished teak, the coach-roof and wheelhouse decks laid with teak.
- Opening windows in bronze frames have winding handles.
- Forward windscreens were made by the aero industry, the upper windscreen full width curved in one piece, the lower forward window in 2 pieces to a centre post behind the mast. - The doors each side of the wheelhouse give excellent visibility fore and aft.

Bermudan ketch rig is on varnished hollow spruce masts stepped in galvanised tabernacles on the deck. The tabernacles also double as ventilators to the cabins below.

Alloy booms with winch outhauls.

The main sheets to a horse across the wheelhouse roof, the mizzen sheets to a horse on the aft deck.

The mainsail and mizzen are set on vertical stainless steel sections turned by electric motors to reef the sails in towards the masts. Both masts carry unique, custom made chromed bronze halyard winches with twin brake wheels and drums, cranked individually from forward, fitted with wire halyards.

The headsail is on a stainless steel section turned by identical electric motor drives to the main and mizzen. These are believed to be some of the earliest electric furling systems installed by Fred Francis.

A varnished lifting boom on the mizzen hoists supports the starboard side boarding ladder. There is a pair of self-tail headsail sheet winches on the cover-boards by the wheelhouse doors.

FREDELA has stainless steel rigging with bronze rigging screws to through bolted bronze eyes on the deck. There are twin spreaders to the main, single spreaders and jumper struts to the mizzen. Main backstay to the mizzenmast spreaders and down to deck.

The mainsail, mizzen, roller genoa are all in white terylene setting approximately 675 sq ft, (63 sq m). This is a tall and adequately powerful, easily handled rig.

Navigation Compass
Raymarine Sounder
Raymarine Windex
Icom VHF
Simrad CP42 GPS colour chart plotter with 10" colour screen
Simrad AP 26 Auto helm
JRC RADAR 1500 MK2 radar
2 x plough anchors, 100m + of chain and electric windlass.
6-man life raft, serviced to July 2009
2 x life buoys, Danbuoy
Fire extinguishers throughout and CO2 engine room extinguisher.
Zodiac 4 man tender with outboard.
300 gallons (~1400 litres) water in 4 stainless steel tanks, with two separate pressure pumps.

The dedicated engine room, with access through a deck hatch in the wheel-house, is in clean condition with steel plates along each side and good stooping headroom.

The main engine is a Cummins (HU-170-M) 130hp 6-cyl diesel with hydraulic self changing gears, single lever gearbox to 3-blade right handed 39\" x 36\" bronze prop, giving 9 kts. The engine is fresh water cooled with a heat exchanger.

There are twin Constavolt diesel generators:

There is a 90 amp alternator on main engine and 4 x 12v batteries in the lazarette giving 24v supplies, separated for service and engine start

A G&M diesel 7.5Kva 240v in aft port corner of the engine room.
A Perkins 4-cyl 49hp diesel engine on the centerline at the aft end of the engine room over the prop shaft driving a 9.5Kva 240v alternator. Both provide charge for all batteries via a Dolphin battery charger.

The boat has a Mathway rod and gear steering to traditional spoked wheel
A Vetus bow thruster.
An electric anchor winch forward and electric capstan on the aft deck.

Four steel fuel tanks each side under the side decks can contain approximately 1200 gallons (5,500 litres) of diesel with balancing pipes between them. Cruising consumption is approximately 4 gallons per hour, (18 litres per hour).