Drascombe sailboats for sale

Buying a used Drascombe: identify the lineage and the era, not just the model name

A "Drascombe" listing carries more ownership history than most brand names on the used market. The name has passed through Honnor Marine's original Totnes operation, a 1997 split between trademark and moulds, McNulty Boats, and Churchouse Boats, which has held the production licence since 2002 -- while a parallel, unbranded lineage built on the same original moulds continued alongside it as "The Original Devon Range" and, since 2017, as Honnor Marine Classics. None of that changes what the boats are for -- small, open, trailerable day boats built for family sailing rather than offshore cruising -- but it does mean two boats that look nearly identical can carry very different paperwork, and a used buyer's first job is confirming which builder actually produced a given hull, not just which model it is.

Which era to target

The clearest era line runs through the Lugger, the range's oldest and most numerous model. Early Mk1 boats used a steel centreplate and rudder that had to be lined up with a narrow slot and pinned in place -- a system Practical Boat Owner found made beaching "a little tricky," and one that has been reported to retract into its housing during a capsize, making the boat hard for even a fit crew to right. Later Luggers carry rudder-arrangement modifications aimed at that specific problem, and buoyancy has improved too: the original hulls were not heavily ballasted or decked, and a buoyancy upgrade remains available from the builders for older boats that lack it. On the Drifter side the gap is more clear-cut: the original Drifter, introduced in 1977, ended production around 1988, and the Drifter 22 that filled the gap didn't arrive until 2008, under new ownership and a different designer, Paul Fisher of Selway Fisher, rather than Watkinson -- so a "Drifter" listing dated between those years is not a continuation of the same model, but a two-decade design gap.

What to inspect across the range

One issue recurs across more than one model rather than being isolated to a single hull: Practical Boat Owner's comparison of the Lugger and Dabber flags a weak tow eye on both as something the reviewer disliked on every example owned -- worth checking, or reinforcing, on either model regardless of builder or era.

Navigating the lineup

Beyond the Lugger and its direct siblings, the range splits by role more than by size: open day boats and dayboat-cruisers built to Watkinson's original lug-and-yawl formula (Dabber, Longboat, Scaffie), a cabin-equipped step up in the Coaster, and the later, differently designed Drifter 22 sitting apart from the rest on both era and designer. The full model directory on this page sorts the range in more detail once a buyer has confirmed which builder and era a given hull belongs to.