Cornish Crabbers has a loyal following, and the company’s new owner and management team are hoping this core group of Shrimper and Cornish Crabber owners will be key in helping to ensure these traditional, classic boats continue to be built.

Richard Yonwin, himself an owner of a Shrimper 19, bought the company earlier this year after it entered voluntary liquidation in March 2024. Ben Walker, of the Poole-based boat brokerage, Blue Lagoon now runs the boatbuilders.

Yonwin is well-known in the marine industry, having introduced the Eberspacher heater to the UK market and North America in the 1970s (where it is known as Espar), pioneered easy-to-fit heating kits and promoted the concept of boat central heating.

“The time has come to now reassure the market that we are here, that we do have a plan and we are ready for business,” Walker told PBO. “I have been talking to the Cornish Crabbers Club, the Shrimper Owners Association and so far, the feedback has been unreal and surprisingly positive which has reinforced this feeling that we did right to rescue the brand and people want this product in the market.”

The biggest in the Shrimper range, the 21 has an inboard Yanmar 1GM diesel engine, with controls led back to the cockpit. Credit: Cornish Crabbers

Cornish Crabbers will continue to build the Shrimper 17, 19, 21, the Crabber 24, 26 and Pilot 30. There are also planned changes to some of the designs.

The Shrimper 19 will now be fitted with an in-cabin fuel gauge. Newly built 19s will have a plastic/safe fuel tank installed port side under the berth in a sealed enclosure. This will allow standard top tank standpipes for engine feed and a sender. A fuel gauge will also be fitted on the instrument panel inside the cabin.

This replaces the screw-in dipstick and original stainless steel tank that was located starboard side aft and forward of the transom.

The Pilot 30 will also be given “liveaboard styling” to meet the growing market demand for comfort on board. The traditional bench seating in the saloon will be replaced with armchairs.

“The Pilot 30 deserves this kind of treatment. It is not just an offshore cruising boat it is a liveboard, a second home. It has a huge hull so lots of room down below,” noted Walker. “We’re looking very closely at that, and maybe investing in moulds of the Pilot 32 or Pilot 35 where we can engineer an aft cabin.”

The interior of the Pilot 30 is to be redesigned, with the new design launched in September 25 at the Southampton Boat Show. Credit: Cornish Crabbers

The new look Pilot 30 is to be launched at the Southampton Boat Show in September 2025.

A decision has yet to be made on the future of the Mystery 30 and 35.

The boatbuilding work for Cornish Crabbers will no longer be done in-house, but will be contracted to Cornwall-based David Thomas Yachts Ltd, based at Wadebridge.

Founded in 1977 by prolific British yacht designer, David Thomas, who penned the likes of the Elizabethan 30, Elizabethan 31, Sigma 33 and much of the Hunter range of boats as well as the Crabber 26, the boatbuilding firm is today managed by Peter Thomas, the former owner of Cornish Crabbers.

The Crabber 24 has a carbon fibre mast and a sleek hull design. Credit: Cornish Crabbers

“I went to David Thomas Yachts because of continuity with the past. As soon as I asked them to build Cornish Crabbers and Shrimpers, David Thomas Yachts re-employed the important staff [from Cornish Crabbers] so we ironically have the continuity of production and I see that as being quite important,” said Walker.

“The knowledge in this company [David Thomas Yachts] is great and the new Cornish Crabbers seeks to harness that knowledge in letting the yard not only build new boats but to assist in the provision of spare parts, technical helpline for owners and so on.”

Walker explained that issues with all bar one of the customers who were affected by Cornish Crabbers entering voluntary liquidation have now been resolved.

The Shrimper 17 is gaff rigged, a characteristic of the Cornish Crabbers range. Credit: Cornish Crabbers

“We need to get some orders, need to get a cash flow, we want to design up, introduce some necessary modifications [Shrimper 19 fuel tank and changes to the Piloit 30] and by next spring, we will have a much harder idea about what our marketing plan will be,” he said.

“It is important to emphasise that we are just emerging from quite a shocking takeover and it has taken all of this year to get the company on a straight line again, and this comes after a shocking year for boat sales anyway; people are not coming forward and buying boats. We need six months to build on what we have already done and my hope is that by September, we will emerge with a new, strong identity,” added Walker.

Cornish Crabber has also launched their new website at cornishcrabbers.online.

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