I first encountered Sereia in 1994 when her then owner, one Ugo Baravalli, was building up a collection of British built boats and had even taken over a boatyard in Elba complete with a number of skilled British boatbuilders and one engineer who specialised in vintage engines. Obviously a collection of classics had to include at least one Thornycroft and hence he found Sereia which became his favourite due to her speed and fascinating history.

According to the research he carried out she is described as a skimmer hydroplane built in 1928 and bearing the build number 2071. She weighs 2.5 tons with a tonnage of 3.17 and a draft of 2ft. Her maximum speed is purported to be 36 knots thanks to her 6 cylinder Thornycroft petrol engine boasting 140 h.p. The craft itself is constructed of double diagonal honduras mahogany and she was restored at the Circolo Nautico Italiano on the Island of Elba over two years - 1993 and 1994.

I did in fact meet Ugo when he was at the boat jumble in Beaulieu sourcing items for his boat collection. He was meticulous in documenting each and every one of his boats. Two are now in the U.K. with other fanatical collectors, one of which is Sereia, now for sale due to the owner's ill health.

In the book created by Ugo's team we have the construction plans for this 30ft speed machine as well as an article from The Motor Boat Manual from which I quote:

'A wonderfully successful type of plane, intended to overcome the pounding tendency and at the same time to provide a thoroughly good sea boat, has been designed by Sir John Thonycroft, and a boat of this type "Miranda IV" was one of the most notable motor-boat productions of 1910.....Miranda IV has a single step but it is crescent shaped in plan instead of straight and the section is a U instead of a flat bottom while the bow sections approximate to ordinary boat form. The hard chine or angular bilge is not an essential feature, the slight downward turn being intended principally to turn down the spray that is thrown up. Behind the step there is only just enough rise to allow the water to clear the hull and so reduce skin friction. The boat dies away to a narrow and nearly flat stern, the extreme end being turned down parallel to the forward plane to make a second or balancing plane. The boat runs almost entirely on the forward plane and she can be driven at 29 knots or so in as bad a sea as any fast, open launch would be taken out in the ordinary course of events. When throttled down quite slow, planing ceases and she becomes merely a very beamy, sea-going boat, capable of going anywhere in reason.'

The coastal boats built by John I. Thornycroft and Co. Ltd during the (1st) war were of this type and several were then converted for private use. Some were up to 55ft in length and fitted with a torpedo and four depth charges, while the 40ft boats were fitted with 250 b.h.p. 12 cylinder V type engine giving them a mean speed of 40 knots plus with their complete war equipment and crew. Two were plying for hire in Torbay where despite the local Council wishing to ban their use due to excessive speed, the police court overruled the Council.

According to the National Maritime Museum archives in Greenwich London, Sereia was one of a series of six 30 footers, 2 of which were bound for Brazil and one for Singapore. The sixth, Number 2071 originally named Sunbeam II according to Lloyds Register, was destined for C.W. Gleeson in Ireland. Post WW1 the design was marketed as one of Thornycroft's “Standard Class” Motor Launch to be commissioned from a catalogue by wealty owners such as Cyril Gleeson. Three of this series of six were sold to private owners and three were kept by Thornycroft to support flying boat operations.

Of these six boats only two are known to have survived - Sunbeam II renamed Sereia and the boat currently in the museum of the King of Thailand in Bang Kok . The latter is probably the one from the Singapore flying boat operation and almost certainly non-operational.

As far as we know from some quite extensive research, Sereia is the only remaining Thornycroft hydroplane. She is part of an evolution from as early as 1877 through to the nineteen forties when Thornycroft boats were competing in speed races in various parts of the world. Miss England II and III raced in the USA and in the UK against Miss America V and VII in high speed duels. During the speed trials in 1932 Miss England II broke the world speed record with 119.81 knots.

But returning to Sereia and her particular history: She was commissioned by Mr. C.W. Gleeson of Killaloe, County Clare, Ireland on September 28th 1927 and due to be delivered on March 31st 1928. The cost was £1,750 with an additional £40 assigned for the delivery. Testing was to be carried out prior to delivery on the Thames against the current. The yard was to be fined if the craft failed to reach the specified speeds!The yard was to supply a Thornycroft RB./6 140 h.p at 1600 R.P.M petrol engine enabling a top speed of 36 knots for racing and 30 knots for cruising. It guaranteed a consumption of 4.3 gallons of fuel per hour at full revs.

True to promise the boat arrived in Limerick on the West Coast of Ireland on March 31st 1928. Mr. Gleeson was adding to his personal fleet which comprised a 50 ft teak motoryacht named 'Sunbeam' and which was fitted with a 110 h.p Brooke marine engine had commissioned in 1919. Sunbeam II was intended as a kind of fast tender to Sunbeam. Both boats were moored at The Manor in Tinarana and used for family fun until the outbreak of WWII when Sunbeam II was laid up in the boathouse at the manor to save fuel. However on a previous outing in the summer of 1930 the log book tells us that the boat covered 224 miles from Tinarana to St Davies on the Shannon in 7 hours at an average speed of 31 knots.

Once the war had ended Sunbeam II was recommissioned in 1946 for family use and she was photographed in 1962 with Mr. Gleeson at the helm and Sir Malcolm Campbell on board when he opened the Lakeside Hotel and marina at Killaloe.

Finally in 1984 the launch was purchased by Desmond McCarthy of Limerick and shipped to Florida in the USA on a trailer specially built for shipping purposes. Two years later she was returned to Tinarana where the original owner's nephew, Peter Gleeson and Mr McCarthy struggled to get the boat going. She then had two accidents, one when being clumsily loaded to the trailer and the second when she hit a rock damaging the shaft and propellor.

A new era began in 1992 when she was acquired by Signor Baravalle, reloaded and shipped to the Mediterranean for a painstaking restoration. The full story of the restoration process is described in meticulous detail in a book printed by the Circolo Nautico Italiano which includes the mention of 6000 hours of woodwork and 1 cubic metre of Brazilian mahogany plus 1 ton of enthusiasm! The book also contains many historic photographs as well as those documenting the restoration. In 1994 Sereia won the first prize from the prestigious Italian ASDEC organisation and later that year in 1994, 3 prizes at our very own Thames Traditional Boat Rally followed by Best in Show at the inaugural Monaco Classic Week in September of the same year when I was lucky enough to be on board. She was sold along with the other boats in the Baravalle collection in the early 2000s in a slightly soggy state having been stored in a swimming pool for some time. The current owner then lavished thousands on bringing her back to a usable and stable condition in time for a relaunch in 2014.

The engine work was undertaken by Rowan Bell of Thorne Engineers of York (who had done some previous work for Baravalli ) meanwhile Alastair Garland took on the hull and he has stayed with the project to the present day although he has now retired leaving the boat in excellent condition for her resale by HSC.
All this hard work was rewarded at the Traditional Boat Festival 2019 by the award of the Dean Martin trophy winner for engine restoration. - More than just maintenance  !
More recently Sereia participated in the 2022 Traditional Boat Festival in Henley on Thames and enjoyed frolicking with Motor Gunboats out of the naval museum in Boathouse 4  in Portsmouth - even if the sea was quite rough.

The cabin has seating for six on comfortable side benches with feather filled off white buttoned cushions. There is additional passenger seating aft and room for a skipper and one or two passengers in the helm cockpit. A long metallic hatch opens above the engine to enable easy access for maintenance and simply to admire this magnificent beast of an engine. Under the current ownership an excellent maintenance programme has been the responsibility of messrs Alistair Garland and Michael Williams who brought her with the owner to the Traditional Boat Festival in Henley in 2022 to put in her first appearance there since 1994. The owner has recently retired and now lives abroad.

If you think that you would be a worthy owner of this magnificent and historic classic please do not hesitate to call the office on 01491 578870 to view Sereia in her current premises at our Beale Park boat store. She awaits your visit.

Gillian Nahum ( autumn 2025)