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“The history of Pheon Yachts Ltd"
written by
Pete Wheeldon owner of "Market Lady" (Vancouver 32)
The very first
yacht fitted out, a “Hurley 24” could so easily have seen the demise of
the company, for no sooner had it been completed than the Hurley company
went into liquidation. Pheon Yachts was commencing business during a
great growth period in the yachting industry, yet ironically at one of
the most difficult, economically - who can forget the power strikes and
three day weeks of the early seventies! Undeterred, John looked for an
alternative design and soon commenced work on a 20ft Vagrant, building
it as a cold moulded, one-off yacht. It was during the construction of the Vagrant that John Dandridge demonstrated amazing insight. He read in a magazine about a yacht, designed by a Canadian designer - Robert B Harris - for a couple, who wanted to sail from their home in Seattle, to New Zealand. The criteria demanded by the couple, it had to be small enough to be easily handled, yet tough enough to take anything that could be thrown at it. The design was called ‘The Vancouver 27‘. All John knew about the yacht was what he saw before him, a magazine write up and a small side outline line drawing of the hull and rig, yet instinctively, his canny sense for recognizing a winner came to the fore, his heart jumped as he shouted, probably to the alarm of the rest of the family, “That’s the boat for me”. He immediately knew, this was the boat he wanted to build, so contacted the designer requesting permission to build one in Britain. I wonder if like John, Bob also recognised a winner, for no sooner had the request been made, than Pheon Yachts Ltd were granted the rights to build for all Europe. Stopping work on the Vagrant, John immediately threw himself into building a cold moulded Vancouver 27 in the shed at South Heighton, at the same time advertising it in Yachting World. The response was immediate and very quickly Vancouver 01, later to be named “Strider” was being built for a Dutch client.
John with cap and pipe aboard "Strider",
the beginning of a legend
The interest
that was being aroused in this new yacht was immense, and it soon became
very clear that wooden one-offs were not going to work. The future lay in
GRP. “Strider’s” launch coincided with the completion of the plug for GRP
construction, but whilst she sailed beautifully she was found to be a
little too tender and had a tendency to roll a bit too much. Bob Harris,
who had flown over to see the new plug, on being told of the problem with
“Strider”, suggested adding three inches to the beam at the waterline to
make her stiffer. The advice came in the nick of time. The plug was
altered, using quite a few buckets full of P38 car body filler, the
result, the distinctive and much loved sea hugging tumblehome, found only
on UK built Vancouvers. Whilst John and Peggy were busy setting up the business, in the wings was another person who was to greatly contribute to the Vancouver’s success, their son Andrew. John was a perfectionist. When he built a yacht, it was extremely strongly constructed and functional, but unfortunately he did not have the eye for internal design. The reaction to the new Vancouver 27 had been beyond belief, everyone commenting on how superb a yacht she was, but there were reservations about her looks down below. She tended to be rather dark, heavy looking and old fashioned. Whilst many traditionalists might see this a virtue, it must be remembered that we were entering an era, where the new generation of yacht buyers were becoming more discerning, interior design, being as important to them as the sailing qualities. During the initial years of Pheon Yacht’s, Andrew was studying for a degree in ‘Three Dimensional Design’ at Brighton University - or as it was then, Polytechnic. It was the summer of 1976, having obtained his degree and left Brighton, that Andrew joined his Mother and Father in the business, and was deemed to play an important roll, providing the final vital link. Before he did however he had a job to do for the company, which proved extremely useful to him. Vancouver 02 already named “Sunrise”, together with her new owner, needed to be delivered to Denmark. She was bright scarlet red in colour and looked stunning. It was a marvellous opportunity for Andrew, not only to really test and get the feel of the yacht, but also to monitor peoples reactions to her. Wherever “Sunrise” went she caught peoples eye and the comments could not be more favourable, but Andrew definitely at times detected a lesser response to her interior. At this time Vancouver 03, “Trinity”, was already under construction. When Andrew returned home from Denmark and joined the business, he was able to persuade his Father to let him use his new learnt skills, and look at the internal design of the yachts. Andrew approached his roll by successfully combining his Father’s love of solid, with his own flair for style. This turned out to be a winning combination earning Vancouvers, and indeed Pheon, much acclaim. With the increasing demand for the yachts, Andrew also recognized the need for ‘production’ building as opposed to a series of ‘one-offs’. He saw this as an evolution process, with new ideas being introduced piecemeal in successive yachts, ideas often formed as a result of customer’s requirements. The full team was now in place, and it was working well. THE VANCOUVER PHENOMINA WAS ON ITS WAY!  Under construction two deep in the old Cantell's Shed So great had been the interest towards, what was now quickly becoming a virtual icon in small yachts, that it became obvious during the build of “Trinity”, the demand had outgrown the shed at South Heighton. After procuring larger sheds on the slipway at Cantell’s Shipyard in Newhaven, all building was transferred there, the South Heighton shed being retained as a GRP component moulding shop. The company was expanding to meet demand. The new premises at Cantell’s permitted three 27s to be built at the same time. There were three building bays, each with a Chief Chippie in charge, whilst teams moved from boat to boat carrying out the construction process. At this stage three yachts in the shop were under construction, one lay outside undergoing final completion and another empty hull sat waiting to be moved in. It was going really well with one Vancouver a week being launched …. THEN …. Crash! The government raised the rate of VAT to 17.5 %, orders dried up overnight. It was an extremely hard time for Pheon Yachts Ltd whilst the effects of the new VAT rate were being accepted. It would have been easy to call it a day at that stage but the Dandridge’s belief in what they were producing and the sheer grit and determination to see it through rose to the fore. Sure enough, the new rate finally became accepted and the economy started again to pick up and orders eventually started rolling in again.  Andrew at the Helm of Vancouver 32 (01) It was felt there was a niche in the market for a bigger sister to the 27, so in 1978/9, Bob Harris drew up the lines for the 32. Both yachts were to go on the market side by side. The first 32 built, John had scheduled to be exhibited at the London Boat Show in 1980. It was built in foam sandwich on frames at South Heighton. A mould was taken from her and shipped over to Northshore Yachts in Chichester who carried out all Pheon’s hull mouldings. The deck plug mould was to be built at South Heighton whilst the fit out was to take place in an extra bay which had been brought into use at at Cantell’s. Andrew was given total freedom to design the interior layout. It was a really exciting time with much hope for the 32 design ….. THEN ……..once again disaster struck! So much time, effort and money had been spent on the design of the deck plug which had incorporated many refinements and lessons learned from the 27. It had been shipped to Northshore for a mould to be taken when the unbelievable happened. The mould stuck fast to the plug. The report from Northshore’s Managing Director was - TOTAL LOSS!! John, Peggy and Andrew Dandridge’s determination was once again being put to the test. John could not, indeed would not, accept defeat. For three solid weeks, everyone from Pheon worked to remove the plug from the mould. It had to be taken away piece by piece, delaminating the plywood layer by layer, whilst using solvents to clean back to the mould surface, and dissolving the paint layers off the mould. It was a heartbreaking, backbreaking and mammoth task, but the future of Pheon Yachts was at risk by the disaster, none of them were going to give in to that without a fight.  Production line building in the old Cantell's shed Eventually they succeeded, but the delay caused, could well have meant missing the Boat Show deadline. The whole of the Pheon workforce worked day and night in order to make it, the last of the work on her, being complete as she was being manoeuvred through the doors of Earl’s Court on the back of a transporter. The 32 just like the 27 before it engendered tremendous response from both the yachting press and the yachting fraternity at large. Now with two models in high demand, Pheon moved into purpose built premises at the Cantell’s site. This provided five bays, all backing on to a mezzanine joinery workshop with stores beneath, three offices and a mess room. The work force had grown and now totaled up to twenty chippie, fitters and engineers. Vancouvers were starting to be frequently spotted, recognized and admired, all around the world. The legend was quickly being formed.  Vancouver 32 (01) under test for Yachting World by the late Geoff Pack, whose unmistakeable frame can be seen in the cockpit. Geoff gave the 32 an absolutely glowing report. In 1980 Andrew redesigned the interiors of both models which were to incorporate what became known as the “Three Bar Moulding” and is the method used on all Vancouvers to this day. The first yacht to be constructed with this design was “Sula Sula” which was to become Pheon’s new demonstrator, the previous one named “Pheon” having been sold. Shortly after her launch, “Sula Sula” took part in the Yachting World One of a Kind Rally, crewed by John, Peggy and an old sailing friend and ardent 27 advocate and owner, Bryce Valentine (see anecdotes below re Bryce). “Sula Sula” stole the show winning the rally outright in every category, with a full write up in “Yachting World”.
By this time there were
no doubts in the minds of John, Peggy and Andrew, they were producing a
legend, but they never sat back on their laurels. They were always looking
to make improvements that would keep the Vancouver name in the forefront
of yachting. In addition to the 27, the 27F (standing for family) was
produced which eventually made way to the V274. The first of these, having
been purchased by an American customer, was shipped out and exhibited at
the Annapolis Boat Show.
John at the Annapolis Boat Show
Vancouver 38 entering the factory for fit out Click on Vancouver 38 article to read large format version
A one off,
really powerful Vancouver 38 was built but because of the construction
limitations, she was built in steel. The finished yacht however gave every
appearance of being GRP and looked magnificent. The last heard of her was
when she was shipped over to Florida.
The Vancouver 32 Pilot
under construction in the new factory
Another
variation was the Vancouver 32 Pilot. This proved not to be as popular as
was hoped. The first built, ”Hoodwink”, is still however with its original
owner in Eastbourne. Sadly, it was this model which started the final
chapter of Pheon Yachts Ltd. A GRP version was commissioned by a customer
from the US. The result was a superb yacht, but, due to the extensive
modifications, in addition to the plugs and mouldings, costings were
crippling at a particularly difficult time for the yachting industry, it
all but broke the company. This was the eighties and no doubt the demise
of many boat builders will be recalled, Westerly and Newbridge to name but
two. 
Andrew's Vancouver 27, "Pheon"
One customer, a Dutch
gentleman of huge stature, making a comment on seeing the ramshackle shed,
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