A 1999-built modern gaff ketch named Betty Alan is now for sale at €85,000, posted by Ed Maggs on 20 September 2025.
Built in mahogany on laminated frames, she blends traditional lines with modern structure. Her planking is glued‑and‑screwed, with epoxy below the waterline and glass sheathing.
She measures 60 ft over spars, 50 ft on deck, with a 15 ft beam and draft of 5 ft 9 in (board up) or 9 ft (board down). Displacement is around 16.5 tons.
Her rig is solid: hollow spruce masts, tabernacles, 7×7 stainless rigging, multiple backstays, Harken furlers, and topsails on both main and mizzen. The sail inventory is mostly original from Hood, staysails updated in 2020–23.
Deck‑gear includes Lewmar Ocean winches, a windlass, bronze fittings, five dorade boxes, and a wood‑and‑brass wheel with autopilot linkage. The steering compass is a Sestrel model, supported by a Raymarine plotter.
Ground tackle: a 40 kg Manson Boss anchor on 80 m chain with 50 m warp, and a 15 kg Rocna kedge with 20 m chain plus 50 m warp.
Power comes from a Nanni 6.280HE six‑cylinder diesel, driving a Brunton folding Autoprop via a Hurth gearbox. A Sleipner bowthruster is also fitted.
Tankage by Tek‑Tank: 320 L fuel, 360 L water, 136 L waste. Electricals include four 110 Ah house batteries, a starter battery, twin alternators, and 240 V shore charging.
Safety: she carries a new (2025) Seago 6‑man liferaft, an inflatable danbuoy, and mahogany boarding ladder.
Accommodation is generous. The saloon offers standing headroom, a large drop‑table, mahogany panels and a Taylor stove. The galley is equipped with a 4‑ring gas stove, fridge/freezer and storage. Cabins fore and aft each provide double berths, plus heads with shower and day lockers.
Designer Jeremy Lines crafted Betty Alan as a reinterpretation of a Mylne ketch. She was completed under owner direction after hull construction at Latham’s yard in Poole and launched in Birdham Pool.
Lines close to her original owner Mark Varvill’s taste. She won her class at the 2001 Round the Island Race. After a refit by Berthon she was renamed Samphire.
In recent years, she has cruised from Burnham‑on‑Crouch to Orkney, the Netherlands, Brittany, Ireland and back. A two‑year log earned the Hanson Cup in 2019 via Yachting Monthly.
Current owners cite limited time ashore as a reason for sale. She is presently in commission and will be laid up under cover in southwest Ireland during refit work, unless a buyer emerges beforehand.
Read the full advert and see more photos here
