Honnor Marine Classics up for sale as current owner off to sing sea shanties

Honnor Marine Classics, which is based in Swanage, Dorset with production currently in Westbury, Wiltshire (via a subcontractor) is up for sale. Its current owner Tim Altham is ready to let go after eight years and head into retirement – which consists of singing sea shanties and more sailing.

The original Honnor Marine was established in 1956 in Totnes where it built a large number of Drascombe boats. Altham says the company grew to such a large size that it did not survive a difficult trading year and went into liquidation in 1997.

At that point, Bob and Norma Brown purchased all the production moulds from the liquidators and continued production in Rochdale for 20 years under Honnor Marine. Under the Brown tenure, 380 boats were built including the Cape Cutter 19 in 2005 (pictured below). That quickly gained the reputation of being the fastest 19 foot gaffer in the UK.

Altham purchased the business from the Browns in 2017 and changed the name to Honnor Marine Classics (find out more on the company’s website). He’s added three new models during this difficult trading period (covid and Ukraine). All three first builds sold shortly after launching. The new models were the Cape Cutter 19 inboard diesel version, Tamarisk 19 (probably the largest cabin of any 19 foot Gaffer, he says) and the Windward Cutter.

Altham says 90 per cent of the company’s sales are in the UK as the range has never been properly exported – and that’s an exciting opportunity for a new owner.

“I bought the business with the intention of cranking up the export market. But due to covid, and then all the problems caused from the Ukraine war, it has not been the right time to expand.

“As project manager for all aspects of the business it has been a real challenge to keep production going through covid and then through all the problems caused by the Ukraine war. However, production continued without a break and I also managed to add three new models to our range. But alas, my ambitions to dramatically increase our export business have had to go on hold for the last six years.”

As all of Honnor Marine’s production is subcontracted, the business has very low overheads. Boat moulds are currently stored at a low monthly cost and everything else required to run the business will fit within a 20 foot sea container, says Altham.

“Our affordable classic boats are built in GRP for low maintenance, the whole range can be trailer-sailed and easily launched and recovered from our easy launch trailers. Quick rigging options are available on all models, starting with our Scaffie that can be rigged in minutes. The Drascombe/Devon style of open day boats are well known for their stability and RCD builds are completely unsinkable,” he says.

“The new owner could well be an existing boat builder or simply an enthusiast of all things classic, with a determination to conserve history, protect all our tooling for the future and to move the brand forward.

“Exporting is the way forward, we have planned shows in Dusseldorf for the European market and select shows in the US, utilising our new agent in Maine.” Guide price for the boat moulds, including production rights, is £94,000, more information is available from Altham.