From what I've been able to find out, the Avenger boat company were based in Chandlers Ford near Southampton in the late 1960's and early 1970's.
The boat was desgned by Don Shead who had designed many top offshore powerboats being raced at the time.
http://www.classicoffshore.com/history%20ctc%20winners.htm
The following image is from an article in a 1971 Design Journal detailing the boat soon after it was released.
By 2007, West Wind had been laid up in a field by the coast exposed to all the elements for most of her life, but having not been used for between 5-10 years.
At the time I retrieved her from the field to begin the restoration, she was in a very poor state:
By now, it's been over 2 years of bit by bit restoring her to a decent usable condition. I got the engine running (1986 Johnson 70hp outboard) during last year after a complete rebuild. Thankfully she's had low hours, so there should be plenty of life in her yet.
So last week I finally completed the major tasks I had planned for this year. The aim is take her on a roadtrip into Northern France, then over to Poole before heading back to Cardiff for a long weekend at the Classic Motorboat Association of Great Britain's main annual rally.
She's now ready to go, and we leave for Rosslare to take the ferry to Roscoff in less than 2 days from now.
Watch this space for updates of the journey over the coming days.
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