‘Lady Sophie’ – an innovative new build from Padstow Boatyard

The MV ‘Lady Sophie’ GY11 is the new build 40 foot potter from Padstow Boatyard.

The MV ‘Lady Sophie’ GY11 is the latest innovative new build 40 foot potter built in the south-west of England by Padstow Boatyard.

The PB40 is a new design by Gary Mitchell in collaboration with Pelagic Design Ltd of Falmouth and has already brought interest from several other shellfish skippers and companies around Ireland and the UK.

Having seen video footage of the ‘Lady Sophie’ on sea-trials, it is immediately clear that this new design is an effective and agile boat that is easily handled without giving-up any of it’s ruggedness.

An aerial view of the MV ‘Lady Sophie’ GY11 is the new build 40 foot potter from Padstow Boatyard.

The 11.95m ‘Lady Sophie’ has been built for Darren Kenyon and Fastline Shellfish Ltd of Grimsby. The vessel will be skippered by Josh Patchett and will fish for crabs, lobster and/or whelks with four of a crew.

The ‘Lady Sophie’ will join Fastline Shellfish Ltd’s other boat, the ‘Sweet Water’, a 10m potter built in 1982, as the company looks to expand their fishing power.

The Kenyon family has a long tradition in fishing in Grimsby. Darren’s father, Jim Kenyon fished on trawlers for over 50 years. 

These days Darren owns and runs Fastline Shellfish Ltd, where they land their own catch, process it and supply it through their own shop.  Their current vessel with it’s own dedicated crew fish the North Lincolnshire coast every day with pots for the freshest shellfish.

The MV ‘Lady Sophie’ GY11,the new build 40 foot potter  from Padstow Boatyard in Padstow

The ‘Lady Sophie’ is a PB40 crabber – GRP heavy displacement hull with full shelter. The wheelhouse and accommodation are situated aft. In the fully sheltered deck space there is a hauler and hauling hatch located on the starboard  side, with a shooting hatch in the transom. The fish hold is located in the centre of the boat with the engine room to the fore.

The ‘Lady Sophie’ took just over 12 months from design to finishing with the project starting in November 2019, launched in January this year and completed this month, February.

The new Gary Mitchell design features a beaked bulbous bow, large deck space and a high capacity 24m3 fish hold.

With the GRP hull and having all the fittings in 316 stainless steel, not alone is the vessel is low maintenance, saving money on paint and repairs, but it means the boat should have a longer life.

In the engine room the boat is powered by an 11L Doosan L126TIH main engine which is coupled to a DT18C3104N D-I Reversing Gearbox 4.48:1 ratio that has been supplied by WaterMota of Newton Abbott.

Propulsion is delivered through a 1400mm 4 blade fixed pitch propellor supplied by Clements Marine/MMP of Little Staughton in Bedfordshire.

The generator which was supplied by Engines Plus of Quedgeley, is a Solé Diesel Marine Genset 35 GT.

The hydraulics have been supplied and fitted by Jim Walker of Creelers Shellfish Ltd. The electrics were supplied and fitted by Waters Marine /Bob Pretty Electrics.

The wheelhouse is fitted out with a Koden MDC-5006F radar. There are two plotters installed; one Sodena Turbowin and a Koden GTD-120.  There is also a Koden CVS-1410 sonar, 2 x Icom IC-MC506GE radios, and a Amec Camino-108 AIS.

The wheelhouse is also fitted with 4 x Neovo 17” Monitors and Vision Marine CCTV throughout the boat.

The electronics package for the ‘Lady Sophie’ was supplied by Mantsbrite.

On deck, the 20” hauler was supplied by Spencer Carter and the landing crane is a Hyva HA21 model.

The Fishing Daily would like to congratulate Darren Kenyon and Fastline Shellfish Ltd on their new fishing crabber, and wish them all safe & successful fishing with their new PB40 – ‘Lady Sophie’.

We would also like to thank Padstow Boatyard for the information and photographs of the ‘Lady Sophie’.