About Us
Tucker Designs have been in the business of designing yachts and small craft since 1953 – the beginning
of the post war plywood boatbuilding boom.
About Tucker Designs
Tucker Designs have been in the business of designing yachts and small craft since 1953 – the beginning of the post war plywood boatbuilding boom. Many of the designs in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s were household names amongst the yachting fraternity. The name Robert Tucker became synonymous with chine plywood and bilge keel designs, notably the Silhouette II, Debutante, Ballerina, and Caprice (circumnavigated).
Photo shows “Shrimpy” at the time a Cowes built 30year old plywood Caprice in Australia – visiting the original builder.
These boats were built by both professional yards and amateur builders in their hundreds and even thousands. The plywood revolution pioneered mass boatbuilding however in 1966 GRP (glass fibre) took over the professional production market not only for complete vessels but, also as shells to be fitted out by the man in his back garden.
Although not particularly known for motor boat designs those produced have frequently endured and remained saleable in the production market, names such as Moonraker 36, Aquabell 27, Lochin 32.
Some 13 Lochin 32’s were modified as the RNLI Brede Class lifeboat. see photograph below.
Over the years the market and therefore the business has changed. Since the late 1960’s steel as a boatbuilding material for both amateurs and professionals alike played a more prominent part in the development of the company. Steel designs were produced in multi-chine, strip chine and round bilge formats. Tucker Designs pioneered and developed a number of new construction methods; e.g. radius chine originally developed in the mid 1960’s combining plywood panels with a strip planked round bilge, subsequently used on the production aluminium alloy design Sarum 30. Strip chines made steel construction easier, produced less boxy shapes, thus removing the angle edge created by the hard chine. This system was originally used on the plywood Matilda design and subsequently the Ryton 38 (a least one circumnavigation and many ocean voyages) steel sailboat and thence many others.
In addition specialist commercial designs, mostly in steel, for fishing, civil engineering, passenger boats (e.g. Upper Thames, Longleat, Speedwell cavern), vessel’s as classrooms and for disabled use: general purpose work boats have been produced. The Husky 32 general purpose light-medium weight workboat has been built in their hundreds around the UK coast.
The transverse plating system used on many of our round bilge steel and aluminium designs alleviated the need for complex rolling and wheeling to create a three-dimensional curved shape; only requiring a small press, was developed jointly between ourselves and Croft Marine in 1984: The first boat constructed by this method the Calliope 339(10.3m) RADDY has completed significant voyages since first launch including; two West Indies trips by the first owners; a years cruise to the Red Sea by the second owners; a circumnavigation by the fourth owners; and in 2025 taken to Croatia by the fifth owners. Still going strong 40+ years later.
Lochin 32 as Brede class lifeboat.
Other projects feature touring wide beam sea-going barges capable of coastal and cross channel use as well as ideal for long term inland cruising throughout Europe: Oberon 17×3.66m styled as a cross between a tug and coaster has proved a popular vessel with two currently cruising, plus two under construction. Miranda, larger at 21.3x4m and aimed at those who may wish to do some chartering in order to cover costs.
The Huffler series of motor sailing barges which are very traditional “Dutch” style, but with modern refinements (like a centreboard instead of leeboards and an all aluminium rig for ease of raising and lowering) thus providing more enjoyable cruising. The first three were owned I excess of 25 years and one admitted to have cruised 28,000 miles!
Tony Tucker is a fellow member of YDSA in both design and survey categories and was an accredited surveyor for MCA, Charter and Workboat Codes, Boat Safety Scheme etc.. Now retired.
Accreditations
