Jean Gaudin (L) and Rob Abernethy (R) join “Carlotta” owner Michael Wright after winning the 2019 Classic Boat Awards for top restored sailing boat over 40-feet. Abernathy and Gaudin Boat of Brentwood Bay helped restore the Bristol Channel pilot cutter that was designed and built in 1899.
A global boating award ceremony in London, England included two wins for a vessel with a Brentwood Bay connection.
Jean Gaudin and Rob Abernethy of Abernethy and Gaudin Boat, a wooden boat restoration and building business in Brentwood Bay, accepted the prize for best restoration over 40-feet, for their work on the Bristol Channel pilot cutter “Carlotta”.
The 50-foot boat was designed and built in 1899 in the UK and sailed the Pacific Northwest for more than four decades.
It was based in Powell River in 2015 and Michael Wright of London bought the boat that was in need of extensive work.
That’s where Abernethy and Gaudin and crew stepped in, repairing and restoring Carlotta in 2016 and 2017.
Carlotta was then shipped back to the UK and restoration was completed at the Elephant Boatyard on England’s south coast.
The boat, that was recommissioned and relaunched in 2018, also picked up the Centenarian of the Year award.
The Classic Boat Awards were first handed out in 2007.
CHEK News
