b'Pierrette - a fast steam launchLOA 44ft 8ins. Beam 6ft 4ins. Draft 2ft 6ins. Designed and built in 1894 by George Des Vignes at Chertsey. Riveted steel hull. Teak fit-out. Restored 1993/1994.Pierrette is from a private museum where she has flagship status within a fleet of other Thames boats and ephemera that make up the extraordinary Rose Collection. My involvement with Pierrette was as part of a team led and guided by the owner. Using Des Vignes drawings of a sister launch, together with the owners encyclopaedic knowledge and some careful detective work as the boat was dismantled, Pierrette was eventually restored to her original 1894 layout. The unwritten paradigm of the Rose Collection is understated elegance, and this restoration has no over-embellishment or fussy additions that would distract from the lines and style of the launch. On such a low and lean hull the proportions of the fit-out become a critical consideration; the size and rake of the funnel and the dimensions and style of the boiler and engine casings make or break the simplicity of the original design.74'