Name Maimonde

MAIMONDE was built in 1937 by Saunders Roe in Cowes on the Isle of Wight. Although the company is better known these days for its flying boats and the invention and development of the hovercraft, Saunders Roe has a distinguished pre-war boatbuilding history. As well as river launches, lifeboats and speedboats (including record-breaking Miss America II and Malcolm Campbell’s Bluebird), Saunders Roe built more than 70 motor yachts ranging from 30ft to over 100ft in length.

She is a 45ft Medina Class motor yacht, of which 8 were built between 1935 and 1939. Her first owner was Mr Raymond Gough of Birmingham. She has a teak hull, deck and superstructure and is built on oak and rock elm timbers, beams and keel. The extensive use of teak is no doubt why 5 of the 8 built are still afloat today after 80-88 years. Sister ships are Gralian, Magyar, Vagabond, Lady Christabel, Gay Princess and Kelvinia. The original specification for the Medina class yachts lists limed Austrian oak and pine for the interior fit out; however, little of MAIMONDE’s original interior remains.

MAIMONDE received a fair degree of attention from the yachting press pre-war with articles such as “To Paris with MAIMONDE” and “MAIMONDE: The First of the Saunders Roe 1937 45ft Cruisers” appearing in The Motorboat magazine in her launch year.

Like many other Dunkirk Little Ships, official records show that she was commandeered by the Navy in June 1940. Although several past owners had suspected that she might have been at Dunkirk, sufficient research to establish the fact was not undertaken until 2018/19, so she is a newly rediscovered Little Ship. The Royal Navy held onto her for the rest of the war and copies of the frequently published “Red List” (ADM208: Minor War Vessels in Home Waters) show her as operating as a naval auxiliary (with a Hotchkiss machine gun!) out of Ramsgate (from 17/7/1940), Tilbury (1941-44) and at Cliffe (1944-45). She was manned by members of the Royal Naval Patrol Service (RNPS) aka Churchill’s Pirates. A postcard dated 1987 from a Mr J R Pearce OBE to the previous owner discloses that he and an old school friend (Frank Cowdry?) served aboard MAIMONDE in 1940, doing “convoy barrage balloon work” out of Holehaven (Thames Estuary).

It appears that Mr Gough retained ownership of MAIMONDE after the war as her British Register, or “Blue Book”, shows ownership first changed in 1948. She then passed through a series of owners (to date, she has had only 12) and was renamed Norbar in 1959, returning to her original name in, it is thought, 1963 when ownership changed again.

The previous owner kept MAIMONDE for 30 years. However, as is so often the case with old wooden boats, rainwater ingress through the teak deck caulking eventually took its toll on the supporting oak structure and the interior fittings. She was therefore acquired by the current owner in 2018 with the intent of renewing the deck. Although the interior has been much-changed over the years, it appears that this is the first time MAIMONDE has had any structural work done, such is the quality of the teak. The extent of the remedial work has, of course, proved more extensive than first envisioned, with new engines, steering, cabin and wheelhouse roofs as well as rib repairs added to the new deck work.

Since this restoration work, MAIMONDE has spent the recent summers cruising the south coast of England and sailing up the Thames Estuary. Mostly taking part in Association of Dunkirk Little Ship (ADLS) and other classic boat events; from Henley to Dunkirk and Ostende. Each winter has been spent upgrading the systems onboard and rebuilding her interior in a style that is hopefully sympathetic to her age. In May 2025 there are plans for her to join the ADLS 85th Return to Dunkirk with upwards of 60 other surviving Little Ships.