Golden Butterfly is a 35ft gentleman’s electric launch, built in 1986 by Michael Dennett, and inspired by one of the most elegant periods in Thames boating history.

The Edwardian launch is a style of boat in its own right. Long, graceful, beautifully proportioned and made for unhurried river cruising, these launches were the social craft of the Thames, built for picnics, summer parties, quiet passages and arriving with unmistakable style. Many original examples are now well over 100 years old, and the finest of them still turn heads wherever they go.

In the late Victorian and Edwardian period, the Thames Valley had become the summer playground of wealthy Londoners, with the Great Western Railway bringing day trippers out from the city and the river alive with launches, steamers and pleasure craft. At the same time, electric propulsion was becoming a practical and desirable alternative to steam. Clean, quiet and free from smoke and soot, electric launches became a highly fashionable sight on the Thames before petrol engines took over much of the market. Now, more than a century later, electric boating has come full circle, as owners once again seek the quietness, refinement and gentler environmental impact that electric power offers.

Golden Butterfly was built in 1986 as a private commission for a gentleman with a beautiful riverside house in Wargrave, who wanted an elegant launch to sit outside his home. Rather than copying one particular vessel, Michael Dennett drew on his deep knowledge of restoring turn-of-the-century Thames craft, selecting the finest lines, proportions and features of the classic Edwardian gentleman’s launch. The result is a boat with period grace, but with the benefit of a later build and a very usable layout.

She is built in mahogany on oak frames, with an Iroko keel and stem, an authentic traditional construction that reflects the standard of craftsmanship associated with the Dennett name. A Dennett-built or Dennett-maintained boat carries a quiet confidence on the Thames, and Golden Butterfly is no exception. Michael Dennett’s lifetime of work with classic wooden boats has recently been recognised with a Lifetime Achievement Award, and this launch is a fine example of the eye, experience and instinct that only comes from decades of working with the best river craft.

Her arrangement is wonderfully sociable, with horseshoe-style seating forward, creating the perfect space for guests to sit together while enjoying the river. She has the charm of an Edwardian launch, the practicality of a later build, and the silence and ease of electric propulsion. With her recent set of new batteries, she is ready to offer exactly the sort of refined, peaceful boating for which these launches were originally admired.

It is also no wonder that Golden Butterfly’s third custodian was Julian Grimwade, the veteran racing driver and collector of vintage machinery. She is precisely the sort of boat that would appeal to someone with an eye for engineering, craftsmanship, heritage and style.

Golden Butterfly is not simply a river launch. She is a modern classic, built in the spirit of the Edwardian Thames, by one of the great names in traditional boatbuilding, and now returned to the very form of quiet electric elegance that helped define the golden age of Thames boating.