Bell Seagull and Seamew - Seagull

Seagull

By the mid-1950s Ian Proctor had been responsible for the design of many small sailing dinghies, however he had yet to work on anything larger, that is, until he was approached by Bell Woodworking - who were responsible for the kit of the GP14 sailing dinghy. The Bell Woodworking Company wanted Proctor to design a small sailing cruiser which would be suitable for both coastal and inland waters. Bell also required a design that was easy to produce in kit form and a design that the amateur builder would find easy to construct. The outcome of Proctors work was the 'Seagull' The Seagull sold in numbers, and although Bell did not have any exact figures for the number of both kits sold and boats built in house, the number of kits is estimated to be somewhere between 250-300. It is known that some kits were also shipped to the eastern US Seaboard. In the early days of its inception many young families bought the Seagull as a kit and built it over a year or so, for some it was their first boat and they even learned to sail in the Seagull.