EMBARGO – 11.00am, 11 June 2005

PRESS RELEASE

VIKING BOAT TAKES TO THE SKIES IN ISLEWORTH!

A 21’ replica Viking boat, designed & built by bespoke furniture maker David Jones, took to the skies in Isleworth today (11 June). An 80 tonne crane lifted the landlocked vessel out of David’s back garden, up and over his house and onto a waiting trailer – in readiness for launch on the river Thames at Richmond next week.

Lifted more than 100’ over the Victorian semi in Isleworth, much to the amazement of onlookers and local residents, the boat’s maiden ‘voyage’ lasted a nail-biting 40 minutes. David commented: ”It was a nerve-wracking moment as I saw the boat suspended over the house – you could say I’ve put everything into the project! Now I know it can fly – all I need to do now is to test it in the water!””

In preparation for the airlift, in Viking style, a working party of friends had “log-rolled” the boat from David’s garden work-shed towards the house but then, as he explained, the crane was essential - “there was no other way to get the boat out of the garden”.

The boat is to be launched on the River Thames on Saturday 18 June, midday near Richmond Bridge, Richmond at a ceremony presided over by Ulf Greder -Jarlen (the Earl) of Bärsärkar och Vikingar in the UK. It is expected that film & TV star Sophia Myles will officially name the boat ‘Lille Draken’ (meaning ‘little dragon’) while her father Reverend Peter Myles of St John the Baptist church, Isleworth will bless the boat following naval tradition.

Inspired by a Viking longboat in Oslo (the Gokstad), Lille Draken’s design and construction was a leisure project which took David more than a year to complete – grabbing every spare moment before work and at weekends. One of its most striking features is the carved, dragon figurehead which was based on design by David’s 15 year old son – Ben.

David, whose clients include Viscount Linley and Lawrence Llewellyn-Bowen, used largely traditional materials and Viking techniques for his unusual boat-building project. He added:

“Building Lille Draken has been a labour of love over the last year. As a child I visited a Viking Museum in Norway and the image of the longboats I saw stayed with me. As a craftsman, its been a great experience working with the amazing, curved contours of the Viking designs and returning to more traditional building techniques.”

Despite surprisingly limited sailing and rowing experience, having successfully designed & built a Thames ‘Whiff Gig’ in 2001, David felt confident to attempt the ambitious Viking project and looks forward to seeing how the boat handles in the water on launch day.

Anyone interested in finding out more about the building of Lille Draken or to find out where the boat will be appearing next, should visit www.davidjones.uk.com where information will be updated regularly.

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