Broadland Builders
While the design of the Safari was Alec Hampton's, and it was his company, Hampton Boats Ltd, that commissioned the construction of the hull and superstructure mouldings. The vast majority of that output was fitted out by other Broadland boatyards for their hire fleets. We know this thanks to the work of the late Craig Slawson. He produced the Boats of the Norfolk Broads database, now under development by others. Its core was compiled entirely from Craig's personal observations over some 40 years, together with updates and corrections submitted to him by users of his database. You will find it even includes some photographs taken by his father in the 1950s.
There are some inconsistencies in Craig's data, but that's understandable. One difficulty Craig faced was that, over time, boatyards have changed ownership and name. Boats, too, often have their name changed. That may happen as they are sold or move from one hire fleet to another. In some cases it appears that if a fleet had a number of boats of the same type and one named "Example 2" was sold, then "Example 6", the most recently added to the fleet, would be renamed to become a new "Example 2". Craig's data also suggests there are cases where, on changing fleet, a boat was re-registered with the Broads Authority, perhaps after a substantial refit. It than exists under two registration numbers, something the BA seek avoid.
While a solid foundation, Craig's data on Hampton Safaris is incomplete. That too is understandable! His own boat was based in Horning and sightings of craft based on the southern rivers that never crossed Breydon Water have not all been recorded. While some of the "missing" boats do appear in the records of the Hampton Safari Boat Club the club does not include builder information.
According to Craig's database the boatyards listed below included Safaris in their hire fleets. In most cases it can be taken that when they appeared they were new boats. This may not be the case with a few of the smaller yards when it is more likely their boats are second hand, bought from other yards. On the other hand, Craig's data is generally reliable in recording when larger fleets were taken over as a result of company takeovers.
- Alan Johnson Boats
- Arrow Boats
- Barnes-Brinkcraft
- Beaumont Holiday Cruisers
- Beaver Fleet
- Bees Boats
- Bowers Craft
- Buccaneer Boats Marina
- Coral Craft
- Dale Line Cruisers
- Dawn-Craft (Wroxham)
- DRL Marine
- Faircraft-Loynes
- Fencraft
- Fletcher
- George Smith & Sons
- Hampton Boats
- Hipperson
- Johnson's Yacht Station
- L.L. Cruisers
- le Boat
- Maffett Cruisers
- Maidencraft
- Moore & Company
- Norfolk Boat Sales
- Pearson Marine
- R. & C. Bondon
- Richardson's Cruisers
- Robin Smith & Sons
- Royall & Son
- Russell Marine
- Silverline Marine
- Sutton Staithe Boatyard
- Topcraft Cruisers
- Whispering Reeds
The data indicates that the yards listed above launched a total of some 150 Safaris and this provides a lot of potential for differences in their fit-out. A couple of examples are shown below:
Johnson's Layout
Moore's Layout
The images are taken from a Blake's brochure from the 1980s and show how two different builders fitted out their boats. A three berth boat from Johnson's Yacht Station sticks closely to the proposed Hampton layout of 1968, except for having a single level floor and omitting the steps by the helmsman's seat. The Moore's boat, shown in the same catalogue, shows a line where the floor in the Saloon should be raised by four inches. Although the Moore's boat keeps the Hampton design for the change in floor level it still omits the steps and also reverses the positions of the dressing table and wardrobe in the aft cabin and the toilet and basin in the shower room. Indeed, the shower is separate and gets its own door into the galley.
With further research it is hoped to provide more information on how the various builders fitted out their Safari shells. For example, it turns out that there are quite a few variations in the way the floor of the saloon is fitted.
Research, so far, suggests that there are two Broads based builders that deserve special mention. R & C Bondon and Dawn‑Craft (Wroxham), both built craft that featured a single long side windows.
Although not Broads based, also of interest is L.H. Jones, a builder based on the Great Ouse. Their boats were all built for private clients and those identified so far feature a radically different layout that incorporates a transverse mounted engine with hydraulic drive.
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