LONE SURVIVOR

Dorian is one of the few surviving boats to have served in both world wars, now after a decade-long renovation she’s ready to serve again as a comfortable family motor yacht

- Hugo Andreae

Nigel Walters never set out to buy a classic motor yacht, let alone one with a history as long and distinguished as Dorian’s. Until recently any spare time and money that wasn’t devoted to work and family commitments went on his passion for classic British sportscars. Admittedly, he had grown up around boats, learning to sail in a Mirror dinghy aged nine then graduating to racier Enterprises and Fireballs as a teenager before buying his own Seal 22 pocket cruiser as a young man, but married life, a move to Bedfordshire and the arrival of three children left no free time for boating. It wasn’t until the mid ’90s, by which time their oldest daughter was 14 and their youngest six, that he and his wife Lyn made the mistake of visiting the Bedford River festival and chanced across a secondhand Sea Ray sports boat for sale.

“It had a 7.5-litre V8 petrol engine and was totally inappropriate for river use,” says Nigel. “But it looked great so we bought it on a whim.” It may not have been ideally suited to river life but the family loved it and they ended up keeping it for 10 years despite its increasingly recalcitrant drivetrain.