Name Halloween

HALLOWEEN W as she was named, was launched in 1925, the 11th of her class to be built by the Berthon Boat Company. The "W" after her name was probably to differentiate her from the equally elegant but much larger Fife yacht of the same name! It is believed that her home port was Brixham from the start, one of a fleet of West Solents that sailed and raced in Torbay.

 In 1939 she was in Cornwall (Polruan) and changed hands, to be sailed home to Torquay. This was learned from an article in "Yachting Monthly" November 1941 entitled "Home with Halloween ". The new owner describes her as an "ex racer" and from the photo in the article it appears that her rig has been somewhat cut down.  She did not relinquish her keel as many did.  The article charmingly describes the voyage made in April 1939. It ends with the words "We did not know then what fate had in store for us - or how soon we would be looking back to that day as if from another world." Not much is known about where she spent the war years, but is expected she was tucked away in some creek or mud berth. 

A coach roof was added, almost certainly a 1950s addition. It is believed HALLOWEEN found her way to the East Coast in the 1970s, as by the late 1980s she was found at Pin Mill in Suffolk in a sorry state. She was completely restored by shipwrights Fabian Bush and Jamie Clay for A Mulville 1999-2001.  She was then raced successfully around Essex and Suffolk for a few years until being sold to an owner in the Solent in 2018.  There were plans for her to join a charter fleet, but this did not happen and the boat became a little neglected.  Purchased by the current owners - professional boat builders - in 2024, she had a thorough and professional grade six month refit in 2024/25.  Work carried out during this refit included: Hull sanded, faired and filled before repainting; All bright work stripped to bare wood and revarnished; Cabin and cockpit sanded and painted; Deck repainted; Mast: new foot scarfed in, stripped to bare wood and revarnished; Lots of new halyards and lines; Winches serviced; All mast furniture replaced; All new wooden blocks; New fenders and mooring lines. 

Update, May 2025: Vessel for sale.