IT'S A MATTER OF CHOICE

BOAT TEST: EACH MONTH WE PUT NEW BOATS THROUGH THEIR PACES Performance • Interior • Specification

- ADAM PORTER

Over the years, we’ve met boat builders who’ve entered the business from many different backgrounds. Some were originally joiners, so are most interested in the huge amount of woodwork on a boat; others are engineers, which is clearly a transferable skill; and some have gone from the steel fabrication side of things into full boat fitting.

But as far as I can remember, until now we’ve never met a boat builder who’s moved into fitting out from surveying. But that’s exactly what Chris Williams has done. In fact over the years he’s gradually expanded the areas of boating he’s been involved in, having also been a Boat Safety Scheme examiner and a Gas Safe fitter.

When you think about it, it’s a fairly common-sense move, because as a surveyor you get to see lots of boats – and some of them are bound to be better fitted out than others. You’d clearly learn what works and what doesn’t, and what a properly fitted out boat looks like. He still does boat surveys, in fact he’d done one on the morning we met him. The boat-building business, Ovation Boats, offers a boat called the Charnwood Edge, which is complete; or one called the Charnwood Choice, where the customer has some input into the finished product. They are all 60ft semi-cruisers, and all have the same layout; the Choice model gives customers a say in the exterior colour and the internal finishes, such as the wood used and the colour of the carpets, curtains, and cushions.