ECQUITEE is a hybrid of the original racing hull of the award winning boat TRANSLUCENT

The hull of Ecquitee is one of only 3 hulls ever made with this distinctive bow configuration for competition racing.  This hull was purchased from Kemp of Southampton by RLM Marine of Chertsey, Surrey. in the 1970’s – RLM was owned by Ronald Leslie Maskell thus RLM.  Maskell was a colourful character in the 60’ and 70’s boat-building era and he based his business on the River Thames at Penton Hook Marina.  The original hanger where the boat was built is still standing today, although in a largely condemned state and more of a Pigeon loft.

RLM Marine produced boats from 1967 to their closure in 1982. It all began because Mr Maskell wanted a new boat of his own and he had joiners in his other businesses. From one boat it grew to two and then four and finally RLM Marine became a business with a vast turnover and a great export business to Scandinavia. Although there were some standard designs most of the boats were individually built to suit whatever the customer wanted and they were invited to view the boat each weekend as it made progress.  RLM mainly used hulls and superstructure from Senior Marine (later purchased by Project Marine) and Project Marine (Now Princess Cruisers) and re-badged as RLM.

Originally built as the John William in 1976, the now ECQUITEE was, after a time, sold to a Company that made electric motors and her name changed to Electro Mare. The latter had her moored in Poole Harbour for some time and then sold her to me in July 1999 – I changed her name to ECQUITEE because money was drawn down from the house to buy it and the original Equity was already UK Pt1 Registered.

As mentioned previously, she has a Kemp, fully planning medium V hull designed for the around Britain Powerboat Races in the 60’s. RLM originally fitted her with the bullet-proof 2.5 BMC’s with Enfield drives, because I wanted to use the boat in the Thames Estuary and beyond I changed the engines in 2001 to Peugeot 1.7 Turbo diesels still on Enfield’s. The Enfield‘s were very ‘brittle’ when it came to the steering arms, OK for rivers and canals but not, I felt, reliable enough for Estuary or indeed, coastal work with a nearly 6T boat. In 2004 I bought a pair of Volvo Penta 290 Single Prop (SP) Outdrive units complete and married these to the Peugeot’s – a good and very reliable match until, in 2011, I found a pair of Volvo AQAD41A’s c/w 290 DP drives. Just like the Peugeot’s they were completely stripped to nuts and bolts, assessed and re-assembled with new parts fitted where required. WOW!, 400hp, I’ve never powered up her beyond 30 knots – but there’s lots left.

I’ve upgraded and re-configured the Saloon over time, removed, refurbished and refitted the wooden wheelhouse, complete rewire, repowered and lots more.  In the future Projects Gallery there will be lots of images of the boat in different states of refurbishment and improvement.

I’ve had this boat in all weathers and I must say it kept me and my family safe – I’ve stayed faithful to her as she’s been both forgiving to me and very sturdy.  What a great boat.

Now I’ve moved to Malta the climate and Mediterranean way of mooring means that I have decided to change the configuration of the boat by removing the back cabin and making a whole new deck bathing area.

Original Specifications: 1976

Length 32ft 9in (9.80 m)

Beam 10ft 6in (3.20 m)

Draught 3ft 0in (0.9 m)

Fuel 160 gal (726 lts)

Range Cruising @ 8 Kts = 320 nm

Water 60 gal (272 lts)

Berths 6

Max Speed 10 knots

Engines 2 x BMC 60hp Diesel with Enfield Z Drives

Current Specification: 2020

Length 35ft 0in (11.50 m)

Beam 10ft 6in (3.20 m)

Draught 3ft 0in (0.9 m)

Fuel 160 gal (726 lts)

Range Cruising @ 20 Kts = 275 nm

Water 25 gal (113 lts)

Berths 4

Max Speed 35 knots

Engines 2 x Volvo Penta AQAD41A 200hp with 290DPA Outdrives

Additional Information

Translucent, the forerunner of ECQUITEE, was built by Bob Kemp for the 1969, Daily Telegraph, ‘Around Britain Motorboat Race’ and was initially powered by Perkins (later Ford Turbocharged Diesels).  The boat was named TRANSLUCENT by Alan Betteridge, the boat’s owner, because it was built with a clear resin so that any structural defects could be seen and rectified. Power to weight ratio was a very important factor so the boat had to be strong and just the hull sides of ECQUITEE are 10mm thick – she doesn’t flex much!

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