Elysian 27 Motor Cruiser

I was in Wroxham this morning on the Northern Norfolk Broads Surveying this very popular Elysian 27 Motor Cruiser. I must have Surveyed dozens of these over the years. I guess they were the most popular Hire Boat all over Britain… read the story at the bottom of this page.

Surveyors comments- note: not related with this example boat above: The older version with the round windows can suffer from an unusual osmosis. (blisters on the bottom). The gelcoat cracks with the moisture pressure and at first glance you would think that the boat had been dropped as the hull below the waterline looks like a cracked egg shell. If you are thinking of buying one please get a Professional Surveyor who knows the Elysian Model to take a look. The newer models with the square windows do not seem to suffer from this defect.

This defect does not mean that the hull is in any imminent danger of structural failure, but it can seriously effect the boats value, and you may have trouble selling her on. Saying that It must however be remembered that the osmosis could remain static for many years with out requiring expensive treatment. My advice would be to take her out of the water over the winter period and store her in the dry, this would reduce the possibility of further osmotically induced gel coat blistering.

Unusual... this model has an Enfield sterndrive!

It’s been a little over 40 years since Elysian production first started. Work on the very first boat began in June 1962. Appleyard Lincoln & Co (Boatbuilders) based in Ely were given vast financial backing by a large company called Shipping & Industrial Holdings. The large company wanted the yard to build and market mass production glass-fibre motor cruisers.

Harry Lincoln, owner of Appleyard Lincoln and Co　took up the challenge and with the aid of his designer Hugh Easton, the first plans were drawn up. The new boat was to be 26ft in length and to be capable of 15 knots with twin Perkins 4.107 diesel engines. Dick Sparrow who had successfully built up Seamaster Boats was called upon for technical assistance as he had experience in glass-fibre boat building techniques.

At the very last minute, it was decided that a 27ft boat would sell better as most glass-fibre boats were around the 25 to 26ft length, so an extra 3 inches were added to the hull and the transom was given a 4 inch camber to make up the extra length. First launched in December 1962 for testing, the hull reached and exceeded its design speed of 15 knots. The boat needed a name if it was to be taken to the1963 London Boat Show. The name ELYSIAN was coined by a friend of Harry Lincoln, a Tommy Thompson who was a retired art director at Elstree Film Studios.
There was very little interest in the all new ‘plastic’ boat, it was a disaster. The very first Elysian was purchased in May 1963, with a debt of £60,000 Harry needed to market the boat differently.

Instead of aiming for the Private buyer, Harry gave a big marketing drive towards the Hire Fleet Operators. The boat returned to London for the 1964 boat show, at last the order books were full as hire fleet operators up and down the country ordered the new additions to their hire fleet, the Elysian 27 was about to become the UK’s best selling motor cruiser the start of great story. Elysian 34s were produced to satisfy the hire fleets demands and building started in 1966 and finished in 1972.