Duchy Motor Launches are built by Cockwells, a family-owned boatbuilder on a creek in Cornwall that is marking its 25th year and has just bought a second waterside yard to expand.
If you are researching a Duchy, the first thing to settle is who builds it, because a semi-production launch is only as good as the yard behind it. The answer is Cockwells Modern & Classic Boatbuilding, a family firm on a Cornish creek that has just reached its 25th year. I have put this profile together from the yard’s own anniversary notes, for buyers here who want to know what sits behind the brand before they commit.
Who is Cockwells?
Dave Cockwell founded the business and still runs it as managing director. His description of the yard’s edge is not about heritage or branding; it is about method. Cockwells builds with traditional hand skills and modern tooling side by side, and he makes a point of saying the team is as comfortable with a chisel as with a CNC machine. The company has kept growing through the pandemic, and he puts that down to continued investment in its people and its premises.
We are as skilled with a chisel as we are with a CNC machine, and that is what sets us apart.
Dave Cockwell, Founder and Managing Director, Cockwells
What the yard builds besides Duchys
Three product lines come out of the same workforce. The first is custom superyacht tenders. The yard has a reputation among the top tender builders for reliability, and it sells those boats on design, engineering, client service and after-sales support to owners and crews who cannot afford a tender that fails. Those are the standards the Duchy range inherits.
The second is Duchy Motor Launches, which Cockwells originated. These are semi-production boats – the gentleman’s launch silhouette of an earlier era with a polished modern interior – spanning roughly 6.4 to 18.3 metres (21 to 60 feet) and customised with options to suit the owner, whether the home water is a lake, a canal, a fjord or the open sea. Dave Cockwell’s own summary is that a Duchy pairs space with seaworthiness in a boat sized for two; a buyer who wants to take a multi-generational family offshore for weeks is pointed to the Hardy range instead.
The third is Hardy. Cockwells bought Hardy Marine’s assets last year, adding a line of all-weather motor yachts for longer passages and bigger crews. The yard will keep building the original Hardy designs, and Dave Cockwell is working with the hull designer Andrew Wolstenholme on reworked versions of the Hardy 42 and Hardy 50 with larger saloons, outdoor living areas, walkaround decks and extra safety features. The first Hardy 42 to leave Mylor Creek will be the yard’s first diesel-electric hybrid, with digital switching for remote control of the boat’s systems.
Where the boats are built, and where the yard is going
Cockwells’ home is the Mylor Creek boatyard in Cornwall. The company has recently bought the South West Shipyard, a waterfront site between Penryn and Falmouth, to add capacity. The stated reasons are demand it cannot currently keep up with and the need for more room to build its larger boats, which reach about 19.8 metres (65 feet). For a Duchy buyer the relevant point is capacity: more floor space is what shortens the queue.
On technology, the yard’s line is candid. Battery range is not yet good enough for a fully electric cruising boat, but Cockwells expects that to change and wants to be ready when it does, which is where the hybrid Hardy comes in. Dave Cockwell frames the next quarter-century as a balance of preserved hand skills and experimentation at the edge of what is possible.
We nurture traditional skills but we also push the boundaries of the possible and it is this ethos that will secure our success for the next 25 years and beyond.
Dave Cockwell, Founder and Managing Director, Cockwells
Why this matters if you are buying a Duchy in Australia or New Zealand
Davis Marine Brokerage is the exclusive Australian and New Zealand dealer for Duchy Motor Launches, Hardy Motor Yachts and Cockwells SuperYacht Tenders, so an order placed through us goes straight to this yard. Every Duchy, including the Duchy 35 pictured above, can be ordered through DMB for delivery to Sydney; we manage the import and handle delivery and commissioning here. The expansion matters because a 25-year-old family business with a second site, more demand than it can meet and three product lines is the sort of builder you want behind a boat that will live on the other side of the world from its factory.
For the design thinking behind the range, read the Duchy difference. Once the boat is here, our vessel management service keeps it ready between outings. To talk through models and timing, call 0408 864 111 or send an enquiry.
Cockwells’ own anniversary piece is on the builder’s website.
Frequently asked questions
Who builds Duchy Motor Launches?
Cockwells Modern & Classic Boatbuilding, a family-owned yard in Cornwall founded by Dave Cockwell and now in its 25th year. Cockwells originated the Duchy brand and builds it alongside custom superyacht tenders and, since acquiring Hardy Marine’s assets, the Hardy range of motor yachts. Davis Marine Brokerage is the Australian and New Zealand dealer.
Where are Duchy launches built?
At Cockwells’ Mylor Creek boatyard, on a creek in Cornwall, England. The company has recently bought the South West Shipyard, a waterfront site between Penryn and Falmouth, to expand its capacity and build more of its larger vessels, which reach about 19.8 metres (65 feet) in length.
What sizes do Duchy Motor Launches come in?
The range runs from roughly 6.4 to 18.3 metres (21 to 60 feet). They are semi-production boats, so the design is set but each one is customised with optional extras to suit its owner and the water it will be used on, from lakes and canals to fjords and the open sea.
What is the difference between a Duchy and a Hardy?
Scale, in Dave Cockwell’s words. A Duchy pairs space with seaworthiness in a boat comfortable for two; a Hardy is an all-weather motor yacht with the accommodation for a multi-generational family on longer passages. Both come from the same Cornish yard and both are available in Australia and New Zealand through Davis Marine Brokerage.
Davis Marine Brokerage is the exclusive Australian and New Zealand dealer for Duchy Motor Launches, Hardy Motor Yachts and Cockwells SuperYacht Tenders. To talk about a new build, a demonstration on Sydney Harbour or a pre-owned Duchy, call Sam Davis on 0408 864 111 or send an enquiry.
About the author
Sam Davis is the Director and Lead Broker at Davis Marine Brokerage, Fergusons Marina, Mosman. Brokering on Sydney Harbour for over a decade, he is a NSW State Councillor of the Boating Industry Association and the Australian and New Zealand dealer for Duchy, Hardy and Cockwells SuperYacht Tenders.
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