Dawn-Craft, not Dawncraft
The most comprehensive source of the history of the Hampton Safaris found on the Norfolk Broads must be the Boats of the Norfolk Broads database, compiled over many years, by the late Craig Slawson. It seems clear he was concerned about the possible confusion between the Norfolk and Staffordshire boat builders that both used a similar sounding name. His solution was to refer to the Norfolk based company as "Dawncraft of Wroxham", and on some screens "Dawncraft, Wroxham".
It is known that Paul, of the Shorebase site, exchanged information about the Hampton Safari with Craig. When asked about the origin of the "Dawncraft 26" name for the their Safari variant he replied that the spelling had been given to him by the owner of a boatyard on the southern rivers. It seems that, reasonably, Paul took that spelling to be for the yard as well and, in turn, the same spelling was adopted by Craig. Although it is equally likely that many other locals were spelling Dawncraft the Staffordshire way when referring to the Norfolk yard.
However, the evidence presented below suggests that the name of the Norfolk builder should never have been spelt as a single word.
Dawn-Craft (Wroxham)
It was the discovery of a builder's plaque photographed by Steve Truss that was the seed for the realisation that spelling the Norfolk builder's name as a single word was wrong. The photo appeared in a Blog Post about a Safari MkII that Steve had surveyed on 25 October 2011. After a general description of the Safari, quoting extensively from the Shorebase site, he refers to the boat being surveyed saying:
This one was fitted out by John Claburn when he worked for Dawncraft Boats Ltd, and she also went into private owership.
Leaving aside the issue of the spelling of Clabburn, Steve Truss's note could be interpreted as suggesting that the plaque indicated that Dawn-Craft had bought the mouldings and John E. Clabburn & Co Ltd had done the fit out. Enquires on a local forum suggested something rather different. A past Chairman of the Norfolk and Suffolk Broads Yacht Owners' Association responded saying:
The company in Wroxham still existed with its premises and was bought in the early 70s by John Clabburn to design and fit out GRP hire boats. John was (is) a naval architect from Vospers and was one of the designers of the Solar 37 - now known as Bounty 37 - of which Dawncraft built the early ones before they were fitted out by yards all over the Broads. I didn't realise he also fitted out Safari 25s but apparently he did.
Dawn-Craft (Horning)
During the exchanges on the forum it emerged Dawn-Craft (Horning) was also owned by John Clabburn, further cementing the view that Dawn-Craft (Wroxham) was the appropriate form to use for the company Craig terms in his database "Dawncraft of Wroxham". It also seems highly likely that both the Horning and Wroxham yards were set up as independent Limited companies as another contributor reported:
The 1963 Blakes catalogue has three different styles of name for the company:Their auxiliary yacht Golden Dawn; The "Months" class April Dawn etc and Fleecy Dawn are listed under: Dawn-Craft Ltd., Wroxham.
Silver Dawn is listed under: Dawn Craft Ltd., Wroxham.
The "Colours" class and Radiant etc are listed under: Dawn Craft (Wroxham) Ltd.
One thing you can say is that the Blakes catalogue is consistent about the limited liability status of the business and about the two word format for "Dawn Craft", even if it is not consistent about its hyphenation.
Overall, it seems clear that use of the single word "Dawnncraft" should be reserved for the Kinver-based company and it is probable, as the owner of the Norfolk yards chose to use the form, that Dawn-Craft should be hyphenated.
If anyone can provide evidence that further confirms the correct spelling of Dawn-Craft please post it in the History area on the Forum.