RIFFING ON THE PERFECT ALL-ROUNDER
It’s one of the wonders of the CAD/CNC boatbuilding revolution that small boats can be designed and built surprisingly quickly and without the need for any huge investment. Take the Mystery 14. Matt Newland at Swallow Yachts in Wales had just launched his new motor launch, the Whisper 300, and needed a tender to reach it on its mooring on the Teifi estuary. His previous tender was an unwieldy kayak which was neither beast not fowl and was hopeless in any sort of a breeze (I know, I had to paddle it!). So he sat down and drew his ideal tender/workboat, something that would act as a ferry getting people out to the big and which his kids might like to knock around in when they got a bit older. The result was the basis of the Mystery 14.
Colin Evans of Evans Boatwork had spent most of lockdown building the Whisper
