This beautiful slipper stern launch caught my eye this week. A 1937 river launch that immediately makes me think of Mumm’s Champagne, with canapés and perhaps some cucumber sandwiches with the crusts cut off as we go cruising down the Thames River near Henley dressed in a Blazer and of course wearing a straw Boater hat. The sort of activity we might engage in when the week has been filled with an excess of work activity and we need to just unwind by messing about on the water in the absolute maximum of indulgent comfort attainable. If you haven’t had the opportunity to do a bit of boating on the Thames near Henley you have missed one of life’s nicer pleasures.
This 27′ slipper stern launch for sale by Henley Sales & Charter Ltd. is a supremely tasteful boat and would be absolutely perfect for the Mumm’s sipping canapé munching excursion I described above. This boat is like a vintage Bentley on the water. It surrounds you with mahogany, seats you in lloyd loom chairs or the wickerwork at the rear and wraps you in the style of the thirties that has all but disappeared, and will make you wish it hadn’t. The launch is 5’6″ wide and has an off white canopy that can be raised if the sun is a tad hot or if the rain threatens to make the canapés soggy. The windscreen especially reminds me of the smaller screens fitted to Le Mans Bentleys of the twenties and thirties.
Powered by a Morris Vedette marine petrol engine this boat is not going to set any water speed records nor is it likely to be useful for water skiing, and nor would you want it to be. This is a launch in which to enjoy one of the nicest pleasures England has to offer.
Asking price for “Foxglove” is £24,950 and you will find her sale page if you click here.
(All pictures courtesy Henley Sales & Charter Ltd.)
Jon Branch is the founder and senior editor of Revivaler and has written a significant number of articles for various publications including official Buying Guides for eBay, classic car articles for Hagerty, magazine articles for both the Australian Shooters Journal and the Australian Shooter, and he’s a long time contributor to Silodrome.
Jon has done radio, television, magazine and newspaper interviews on various issues, and has traveled extensively, having lived in Britain, Australia, China and Hong Kong. His travels have taken him to Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan and a number of other countries. He has studied the Japanese sword arts and has a long history of involvement in the shooting sports, which has included authoring submissions to government on various firearms related issues and assisting in the design and establishment of shooting ranges.
