Boat Tests
Full boat tests are available only to Canal Boat subscribers. If you are not a subscriber to the magazine (and why not... it's quick and easy, just click here ) you can purchase a pdf of a test for £2 by emailing ads@canalboat.co.uk, saying which test you would like and including a daytime telephone number.
Wedgwood Narrowboats 57ft
Tickingover is a good-looking boat intended as a liveaboard for its first-time narrowboat owners who had a very significant input into its design which has some interesting and generally successful features... more »
Curtis Rocket 60ft
The interior of this remarkable boat is built in solid planks of oak – with some beech and elm thrown in. It’s very much a one-off but one that should inspire anyone building a sailaway or who wants a new boat that's something special... more »
Prestige Narrowboats
Penciali was commissioned as a ‘get away from it all’ craft for holidays and breaks with friends. It's a boat that – though quite conventionally laid out inside – is actually quite different to the norm... more »
Crown Narrowboats 57ft
This is the 18th boat built by Crown Narrowboats, a relatively new Manchester based family firm. It entered the market in 2000 and achieved early success by being awarded the Lionel Monk Trophy at the IWA Festival in 2003... more »
Walker Service 57ft
Nancy Evans, a 57ft custom built semi-trad, is built on a Graham Reeves shell with porthole windows throughout, two portside hatches and two Houdini hatches in the roof. The rear deck is edged ... more »
Braidbar Boats 58ft
Skye is a 58ft 6in fitted out around a Tim Tyler hull. The layout is relatively conventional: the front deck leads into the lounge, through the galley to a convertible dinette. Beyond this is a shower room and the master cabin. more »
Barry Hawkins Narrowboats 60ft
Nobby is not just expensive at £145,000, but a very intelligently conceived mix of tradition and modernity. It's a beautifully crafted piece of work, based on one of the company’s handsome Northwich tug replicas. more »
Wharf House Boats 60ft
Put a meticulous boatbuilder together with an equally meticulous customer and what do you get? The answer is a handsomely crafted boat that caught the eye of the crowds at the Crick Show in 2007 and gained their vote as best new boat more »
Aqualine Manhattan 60ft
Historically, narrowboat building has been something of a cottage industry so when someone comes along who wants to take a mansion-size approach, eyebrows are raised. Cloud 9 was designed in England but built in Poland more »
Fernwood Craft 62ft
Huff 'n' Puff was designed to be a self-contained live-aboard for two people. That meant maximising both comfort and practicality without losing the vital sense of style in this 62ft Jonathan Wilson/Tim Tyler hull more »
Kingsground 63ft
Dennis Walstad is the man who really did invent a better mousetrap. The retired engineer did so as one of several retirement projects – another being the meticulous planning of his cracker of a boat, Bluestem more »
Paul Simpson 58ft
Mollie, like most Simpson boats, is what you might term a semi-bespoke craft. In other words, the firm has a ‘house style’ and a typical layout but can adapt this – or even start with a clean sheet of paper – as the customer wishes more »
Woodworks boat Fitting 65ft
65ft Imperial Dream is ‘a party boat’. It has been designed to enjoy with family and friends, whether that’s on a simple day out or a week-long cruise. To that end, it is ultra-flexible in layout and able to sleep up to six people more »
Darren Aldridge 67ft
Narrowboat Archie is a 67ft semi-trad boat fitted out by Darren Aldridge Boats as a live-aboard for Victoria Garfield. It is very much a bespoke design, combining a traditional exterior look with a bright, modern and uncluttered interior more »
Russ Hubble widebeam 70ft
Russ Hubble has devised a distinctive and original looking craft that is best described as a cross between a widebeam and a barge – the result is a highly functional three-bedroomed boat with plenty of floor space more »
Bath Narrowboats 57ft
Æthelburh might have been an Anglo-Saxon queen who destroyed Taunton, but this boat sets out first and foremost to be a practical boat rather than a head-turner and is a classic example of how to design your dream boat more »
Simpsons Boats 57ft
Voted favourite boat at the 2006 Crick show, Simpsons Boats Shoehorn has been carefully designed and built to suit its owner’s needs – and the clue to its cleverness is in the name of this 50ft liveabord more »
