CT-78 - 12½ Ft QUEEN GULL TARGET BOAT

Some 12 years after the war there was still a huge collection of these surplus Queen Gull hulls to be had from a RAF hangar at Barry, South Wales, and via a boatyard in Peterborough., and an agent in the Kings Road, Chelsea. No. 78 was bought, complete with engine, for £125 in 1958 by Dr John Leather from an advertisement in Motor Boat & Yachting, the craft lying at Peterborough. The owner started the conversion in 1960 and by 1961 the owner was water-skiing behind it having altered the former target craft into a speedboat. Her top speed then was 25 mph with a straight-drive engine, no gearbox or clutch. Home for QUEEN GULL, as she was then named, was on Lake Windermere.

A QUEEN GULL Target in use and CT 78 as a Speed Boat

In March 2001 "QUEEN GULL" was acquired by the British Military Powerboat Trust and was brought to Marchwood. The craft has been restored as a working speed boat and is now in the care of the BMPT.

QUEEN GULL at March wood restored as a working Speed Boat

Queen Gull leaves the Trust for her new home as part of the Classic Motor Boat Association, February 2005.
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