Cobramold
First built at Stansted in Essex, Managing director Brian Meerloo introduced the original Leisure 17 at the 1967 London Boat Show.
Leisure 17
Designed by Arthur Howard, the 17 foot pocket cruiser featured a large cockpit, cabin with four berths, small galley and a Portaloo. Ready to sail, the Leisure 17 was yours for £495 – the same price as a BMH Mini.
The Leisure 17 proved well balanced, light on the helm, sailed very well and were/are superb “starter” boats. The Leisure 17 was produced for 29 years from 1967 to 1996, probably the longest production run of any UK trailer-sailer yacht.
Cobramold built the boats until suffering liquidation in 1980. Brinecraft took over the moulds and continued production until a catastrophic fire in 1990.
Over 3,400 Leisure 17s were built, but with the loss of company records, exact numbers are unavailable.
Long distance voyages in the L17
Remarkable, long distance, single-handed voyages have been undertaken in the Leisure 17. German merchant seaman, John Adam, crossed the Atlantic to Antigua in 1968, leaving the UK from Poole and stopping over in the Canary Islands.
More recently in March 2012, Turkish sailor Noyan Culum, left Bodrum in Turkey and sailed single-handed in eight months to Plymouth in the UK, via Gibraltar and crossing the Bay of Biscay in November!
Leisure 22
In 1970 Cobramold produced the Graham Caddick designed Leisure 22 and continued production until 1974/75.
The L22 featured 5 feet 8 inch headroom, a proper galley with a dinette to starboard, which converted to a double berth and the separate toilet compartment, the saloon seemed huge for a 22 footer.
The L22 proved very popular in Holland around the ports and marinas of the Ijsselmeer. Over 200 were built and long voyages have also been reported in these sturdy craft.
Leisure 23
In 1973 Frank Pryor designed Cobramold’s second biggest seller, the Leisure 23. Based closely on the L22, with the same 5 feet 8 inches of headroom and the similar interior layout, the extra foot was made up of a larger cockpit and a reverse-slope transom built to address the short comings of the L22’s sailing qualities.
In 1975 Brian Meerloo designed the more modern, “Wedgie Look” cabin tops for the “SL” versions of the L17 and L23. Founder, Brian Meerloo, reckoned the Leisure 23 had the best sailing qualities of them all and loved sailing his L23SL ‘Last Minette’. Both outboard and inboard engine options were offered and around 900 were built.
Leisure 20
Also in 1975 Horst Glacier designed the Leisure 20, principally for the German and Dutch market where inland waterways had a 20 foot restriction on “leisure” craft. Some 250 Leisure 20s were built from 1975 to 1984.
Leisure 27
1977 saw the launch of the Frank Pryor designed Leisure 27. With over 6 foot headroom throughout and a generous 9 feet 2 inch beam the L27 offered outstanding accommodation for a 27 footer and around 105 were produced.
Leisure 29
The German market wanted a yacht with a larger cockpit and the Leisure 29 appeared in 1980, but only 30 were built before Cobramold went into liquidation.
Brinecraft
In 1980 Brinecraft took over the production of the L17, L20 and L23 and continued successfully for ten years until the dreadful fire in 1990. At least one Leisure 26 was produced, from moulds bought from Oyster Yachts. Production continued for a time in Germany and Poland on re-built Leisure 17 moulds until around 1995.
A new builder, Cory Yachts International Ltd. subsequently continued the Leisure brand with new designs for a Leisure 18 and 24. Sadly, very few were produced and due partly to the cost of meeting the Recreational Craft Directive, Cory Yachts have withdrawn from the market.
Leisure yachts were sold mainly in the UK, although many yachts were also built for the European market, particularly Holland and Germany.
Approximately 4,900 yachts were produced and most of these are still sailing.
Download the full history of the company Leisure yachts as a pdf file.