The Sea Ranger is probably the most undocumented
product to come out of Sharp's Commercials.
The moulds for the hull were spotted by Bond's chief designer Alan Pounder down a side street during a visit to Blackpool in the late 1950's. After mentioning this to Colonel Gray, the M.D., they were duly purchased and taken back to Preston.
The first Sea Ranger had a wooden top deck and was tested on Lake Windermere in the Lake District. Alan recalls hitting a submerged log during these trials and the boat being launched into the air! Fortunately, later inspection of the hull revealed only minor damage. Sea Rangers were built in the Fibre Glass department at India Mill in New Hall Lane, Preston in the early 1960's and research has discovered they were very labour-intensive to produce. The total production number is believed to have been only in single figures.
The Sea Ranger was not a failure in the sense that it wasn't any good, but in the fiercely competitive marine market it was simply no better than the rest.
