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Moonrakers
International summer 2000:
THE
LAST CHORD
Who
though owns the last Moonraker ever built?
Well
one could be forgiven for thinking that this distinction, falls
to Alan Waller's 'Power Game'. True, 'Power Game' was the last
one built but she is a bit of a hybrid, lower air draft and
other modifications, all of which go to make her somewhat
different to all that went before.
Well
the last 'true to type' Moonraker has finally turned up, and
what a story she could tell.
Her
owner, Peter Marland has now joined the club and he wrote a line
or two about the history of 'M.Y. Ally's Dream'.
Originally
named Demon, her first owner refused to pay the VAT on her, as
he intended to moor her in Scandinavia. Demon was moved by road
all over the country by Monitor Marine, to hide her from the
owner who naturally wanted to take possession of her.
The
legal battle lasted all of five years, and the boat became
almost untouchable.
However
a very expensive barrister finally resolved the issue and the
boat was sold to a farmer in the Sussex region, who then moored
her at Northerney for something like four years. During his
stewardship she had only a couple of short runs, clocking up
just 180 hours. Peter and Allison saw her at Northerney in
pristine condition; fell in love with her, had a good survey
done and they bought her.
Lack
of use however had taken its toll on things like pumps and the
odd bit of wiring but all these minor problems were soon put
right, and on a visit to Boulogne over the Easter period, they
had a great time, and were greatly impressed with the way 'MY
Ally's Dream' handled.
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