All Weather River Cruiser

At home on the Norfolk Broads

Brief History of the Safari25

The Company

The Hampton "Safari25" was designed by Alec Hampton of Hampton Boats Ltd. The company had been founded in 1958 by Alec and, until his death in 2002, operated a boat hire business at Oulton Broad. The company was not formally wound up by the remaining directors, Heather, his widow and Philip, his son, until 2012.

Over its first decade the company had grown its fleet by building its own boats. As might be expected, in the early days these were all of wooden construction, the majority being of smaller types, and most having traditional aft cockpits. By the mid-1960s the fleet included some with forward steering positions, such as the two berth "On Safari" class. By then GRP was rapidly becoming the standard material with which to build boats.

The First Boats

Alec followed the industry trend and his first design in GRP was the "Safari25". The earliest known drawing of the craft is dated February 1968. It includes a profile of the boat and a plan for the internal layout. (You can download a copy from the Technical Drawing page.) As might be imagined the new design was three foot longer and a foot wider than the earlier "On Safari" class and this provided enough extra space for a third berth.

The initial drawing has no indication of where the engine was to be fitted. The version that appeared in the Blake's catalogue in 1970 shows an extended forward facing settee in the saloon, and shelf aft of it on the centre line of the hull and this is where the engine and gearbox is mounted.

The Boats of the Norfolk Broads records the first boat, Surprise Safari, was launched in 1969. Two examples, the second was Summer Safari were listed in the 1970 Blake's catalogue, the first in which the Safari appeared as part of Hampton's hire fleet. Although Alec Hampton designed the boat, Hampton Boats Ltd itself did not construct the hull and superstructure mouldings. Initially, Rydgeway Marine of Kessingland was engaged to produce them. Whether it was part of Alec's original plan is not certain but, as so many boat builders have done, Hampton began to offer everything from bare hull and superstructure mouldings to completed boats to those wanting them.

Sales were made to a around thirty boatyards on the Broads and a smaller number to yards on the Thames and Great Ouse. Most fitted out the shells following Hampton's internal layout plans, which soon included a four berth version. A few of the yards that fitted out the moulds they purchased supplied private buyers some of which had a very different internal layout.

Whether it was because Rydgeway could not keep up with the demand or for some other reason is not known, but the Shorebase site records that later shells were supplied by Bob Smith of Lowestoft. The timing of the change of shell builder is not known but it is possible that it occurred when the MkII was introduced. It seems likely that Rydgeway gained the right to the MkI mould tools around the time the MkII was introduced. This may account for R & C Bondon acquiring the MkI shells from which they created their variant.

Refinement and New Versions

It seems that the MkI mouldings were tweaked slightly between 1969 and 1972. A combination of Alec's own experience and requests for modifications from buyers led to later boats being delivered with a revised gas bottle locker. As a result the MkI boat is, perhaps, best described as a varying production prototype with the MkII becoming the definitive version of that design. The MkII continued to be built and sold alongside the MkIII introduced in 1976 with the MkIV arriving in 1980, with the three types appearing in a boating press advertisement in 1981.

Apart from introducing the MkIV, the advert is interesting for its representation of the MkIII boat. None appear to have been built with the two raked pillars between the side windows. One wonders why the layout plan featured was for the MkIII boat rather than the latest design, the MkIV. The advert also suggests that the MkIII was not expected to be built as a four berth boat, given the difficulties that presents with the door to the forward well. In spite of that a number of yards did fit out their boats with a convertible double berth in the saloon.

As can also be seen bare hulls, and hull and decks, for home or yard completion continued to be offered right up to the final year of production.

The End of the Line

Having started building the Safari in 1968 the last of 256 was completed in 1982. Hampton Boats Ltd never had more than 14 in its own fleet with the rest of the shells being sold to other builders, mainly other boatyards on the Broads, who bought mouldings in order to populate their own hire fleets. These days all but a handful boats are in private hands, bought from hire fleets as they disposed of them.

Alec did promote the Safari to Private Buyers but the Shorebase site reports that the company itself only built one for a private customer. Blue Tit was a MkII that was built for John Jarrold, then the Mayor of Norwich. The Shorebase site reports the sale as being in 1971. However, Craig Slawson's Boats of the Broads database suggests, on the basis of its Broads Authority registration number, that the sale was in 1970.

Recently, a little doubt has arisen about the "one private buyer" claim. It has emerged that there is a mystery about The First MkIV built. It was only the second and third, of the three built, that entered Hampton's hire fleet, so that does suggest the first could have been commissioned by a private buyer.

Other yards are known to have built boats boats for private buyers, most notably L. H. Jones, who have a yard on the Great Ouse and have never operated a hire fleet. They only supplied private buyers, some with a radically different layout to that suggested by Hampton.

The Boats of the Norfolk Broads database suggests one buyer bought only a hull, recording one with the registration number D839 as having a Wooden Superstructure. However, there must be some doubt about that. The CanalPlan site gives the hull length as 24'9", almost a foot shorter than a Safari hull.

If you can provide corrections or add further information to that provided on this page, please post your update in the History area of the Forum.