Stripped Achilles 24 Removed from Boatyard

Maximise Every Last Penny

The sight of the Achilles 24 being collected was a perfect illustration of an owner determined to maximise every last penny from his yacht. The boat, a classic 1970s cruiser-racer, was truly a shell of its former self. Before calling Boatbreakers, the owner had done an astonishingly thorough job, stripping the small yacht down to the bare GRP hull and deck.

There were no surprises for us—no hidden treasures, no forgotten tins of biscuits, not even a single old rope end. Every single recoverable fitting, from the smallest cleat to the largest winch, had been meticulously unbolted, labelled, and stored, ready for resale on the second-hand market. Even the last vestiges of the interior—cabin sole boards, bunk cushions, and any remaining hardware—were gone. The only thing left that he couldn’t sell was the mast but this was added to our recycling pile.

Keep the Trailer

The only thing the owner wanted to keep, apart from his collection of parts, was the road trailer the Achilles was resting on. This required a slight change to our usual procedure. Instead of simply loading the boat and trailer onto our low-loader, we manoeuvred our HIAB lorry into position. The crane’s powerful arm carefully lifted the completely hollow hull clear of its cradle, allowing the owner to pull the now-empty trailer out from beneath it.

The Final Journey

Watching the stripped-out hull swing slowly through the air before being secured for its final journey to the recycling yard felt clinical, yet efficient. It was a clean, final transaction—the ultimate, resourceful end for a GRP yacht that had given up all its functional components to continue the sailing life of others.