fastonwater

The following photos are from Bill Shakespeare's book Powerboat Racing, published by Cassell, London, 1968.

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From Richard Nash, the proud owner of one of Bill Shakespeare’s boats (August 2010):

I’ve owned the boat for approximately 20 years. I found it in someone’s back garden in the undergrowth while looking at buying an old outboard off them. The outboard was junk, but I fell in love with the front of this wooden boat sticking out of the hedge. A deal was struck and the next day I got it home and started stripping the revolting padded dash off. Underneath this was a badge with the magic words W.Shakespeare (Boatbuilders) Ltd.

I knew that this was a very early Shakespeare as she was wooden, but the hull made the boat stand out as something special, due to the cobbly bottom design. After more digging around (Luckily I live in Tewkesbury, the home of Shakespeare boats ), I managed to find out that this had been Bill Shakespeare's own X Class racing boat. I have since located old magazine articles and photos of the boat. It is also in Bill Shakespeare’s book - Powerboat Racing, I will sort out some photos and scans for the site, you never know there may be people out there with other photos, as I am still trying to find more detailed photos for the restoration.