Metre Man

He has an 8-Metre coachroof as a bookcase in his living room. We meet the man behind many Metre boat restorations.

- Nigel Sharp

Brian Pope has a lifetime connection to Penpol – a small village on the banks of Restronguet Creek near Falmouth – and, in particular, to Penpol Boatyard. He was born a couple of doors away from the house in which he now lives, and he first worked at the yard when he was just 13. “My father was a shipwright and engineer so I was dragged up in boats from a very, very early age,” he told me, “and when I first worked at the yard I would repair racing dinghies and take people out sailing in them.”

He then “set off on a career path”: he was in the merchant navy, he worked for the BBC, the Royal Geological Society and Burma Oil, and he then started his own business in Gloucester, providing garages with a pre-priced menu service. But the lure of boats was always strong and in the early 1980s he bought the Robert Clark-designed 72ft Whitbread from the Ocean Youth Club. “We refitted her for corporate charter and also used her as a senior management training vessel for human interaction, team building and motivation.” In 1993, after ten years and about 350,000 miles on Whitbread, another lure became too strong: that of Penpol Boatyard.

“It had been closed for seven years and was derelict,” said Brian. “It was in receivership and owned by two different banks. Initially when I took it over there was some confusion about the rental agreement and it turned out I was effectively squatting there! It was very embarrassing but eventually a proper agreement was sorted out and a couple of years later I bought it.”