Mallets Bay Fan Tail Electric Launch

This boat is a 1901 Fan Tail Launch that was built in Mallets Bay in Burlington Vermont on Lake Champlain. I bought this boat back in 2007 in East Hartford Ct. The boat belonged to an old man named Bob Attenborough who had it in his basement for the 30+ years. He had a dream of making a mold of the boat and going into business selling replicas. He fiberglassed in the hull and was planning on taking it off to using it as a buck. I have all the newspaper clippings and correspondence from him to Mystic Seaport regarding his plans. I left the fiberglass on, but it could come off and be used to make another boat. The wood hull is perfectly intact. It is made of cedar and steam bend oak ribs. The center surround is made from two large pieces of steam bent oak. There was no original motor, but it was electric originally as steam boats had holes in the bottom for copper tubes to cool the water. Bob did a lot of research and was in contact with Mystic Seaport. Again I have all his research.

I restored it. Basically, I put a deck on it and the seating. I have all the picks of the restoration as it progressed. You can see the wood inner hull. I bought a new motor and control panel. I bought the motor and batteries in 2009 from a guy from Canada named Holden Hayes. He builds replica launches. He sold me the motor, control panel, belts, fan-wheels, mounting brackets ect. Mechanically its 10 years old. I also bought all new bronze deck hardware from a Davey & Co in England. I have all the receipts. I also talked to several people at Mystic Seaport about what I needed to do before I restored it and how to restore it without destroying its integrity and historical value. Basically I asked questions and did it right. The prop, steering wheel, and throttle are all original bronze and have been retro fitted to new equipment.

The deck is mahogany and it is screwed down to marine grade plywood with bronze screws. Everything is screwed down with bronze screws and plugged with bungs and sanded and varnished with multiple coats. The boarder surrounding the deck is quarter sawn white oak. I steam bent all the oak surrounds around the edges on the deck, on the hull and roof. The inside cockpit is all mahogany. The seat benches sit on raised mahogany panels. Under the seats there is storage for life jackets and an anchor. There are two raised panel doors with brass hardware in the aft and in the front, to get access to the motor, and in front to get to the battery and steering cable. The floors are grated mahogany panels with brass pulls, to let any water flow through and pull up for cleaning.

The boat comes with three deep cycle boat batteries that are each 12 volts and together 36 volts direct current which runs the motor. The boat comes with a blue and gold fringed surround for the roof. The boat also comes with a trickle charger.The boat also comes with a trailer I bought new in 2007 to take the boat, as it did not have a trailer. I bought it at Thayer's Marina in CT. It is Karavan Trailer Series RB-KBE-1250/900-46 model. It says on the Certificate of Origin that it can carry 1500 Lbs. I have since put PVC Guild-posts on it to make it easier to launch it.

This boat cruises dead silently leaving people wondering what's powering it. Its a great boat for a reservoir or lake with motor restrictions that don't allow gas motor boats. The boat is a great size and easy to launch. This boat moves right along. When done just plug it into an outlet and the batteries charge on a trickle charger for a penny a day so it essentially costs nothing to run.

Please feel free to call phone and ask questions for you are interested.