Hi all I am new to this, a friend and I have just acquired a Dusky Queen in reasonable condition requiring complete restoration. I am unable to find any information about these boats other than they were designed by Rip Martins who was employed at Windboats from the 1940's to the 1960's and sadly passed away in 2004.

I have a few photos I have taken of her in the state she was acquired, I know the screen is not original, nor the steering wheel, but she is structurally sound and I believe worth saving. We are undecided as whether to keep her and restore her ourselves, or put her up for sale for someone who has a serious passion for vintage British sportsboats.

Any information that any member could provide would be very much appreciated.

Welcome to the forum! Only other one I've seen was outside at the Basildon Museum for many years. It was too far gone for economic restoration. Think I lost my pic of of it though.

Thank you Rapier,

IS this the one that was in Essex? This is the only photo we have been able to find of one!!!

Are they really that rare?

Yes, that's the pic I took of it and that early Pearly Miss with a beautifully made wood deck. They are rare, but I don't think they were very popular, perhaps expensive even, as I have not seen another in 10 years of watching the market. Have no idea when they were built, around '59 I guess, but the layups were very heavy then and it probably has massive wood encapsulated stringers and knees and sadly gelcoats were pretty unstable too - the Basildon one was horribly crazed. They're a big boat for the era and at that stage few motors (that found their way here from the US) were powerful enough - it could have been designed for twin outboards with that width transom though. It was only in the mid 60s that decent hp was readily available here.

Not often I add to an old thread, but I spotted this in a field a month or so back. Someone's pride and joy.