A Marauder 46 during sea trials near Great Yarmouth
The JCL Emblem
At this time, I have presently located and been in contact with...
6 Marauders owners who have craft moored in Spain, Canary Islands, Turkey, Denmark, Germany, & the USA,
4 Mystere owners in the UK, Norway & France,
1 Mamba owner in the UK.
This webpage is intended to bring together all the owners & admirers of the yachts, as well as ex-employees of JCL Marine and the associated companies, Technocraft, Marauder Marine, Moonraker Marine International etc. which formed part of Colin Chapmans group of companies, the most famous of which of course is Lotus Cars.
Who am I and why the website ?.....
I joined Marauder Marine in 1974, part of the ACBC group of companies owned by Colin Chapman, which included JCL Marine/Marauder Marine/Moonraker Marine/Technocraft/Lotus Cars/JPS Formula One amongst the better known. I worked for Marauder Marine,Technocraft, JCL, and Team Lotus Formula 1 at various times on specific projects.
I started working there as a "fitter" and learnt all the elements of the production of the first Marauder's and worked in several of the other companies on other pre-production projects such as the hulls and 'Technoboard', the Mystere, the Mamba , some of the Lotus Cars, and JPS-Lotus F1 cars of Mario Andretti/Ronnie Peterson etc. and learnt a great deal while there.
I was very impressed with the design of the Marauder especially, and dreamt of the day I myself could drive a Lotus Esprit car to my Marauder yacht, though as you probably guessed, I did not achieve either of the dreams, but am still enjoying them !
Currently I am building an archive of plans, documents & photographs etc. to help owners to have as much information as possible to help them look after and repair their yacht. So far, I have located several construction plans for parts of the Marauder, one of the plans for the engine mounting cradles for the Mystere, but always need more as a great many improvements in the designs led to constantly changing details in each yachts construction over the years. I have been in contact with the Chapman family and they have been very kind in allowing me access to the office where Colin Chapman held all his drawings and models.
I also have some scanned copies of brochures for the yachts, but am missing many, and would very much like to have originals from which I could take copies to give to owners in need. (or ex-employees, fans etc.) I am in contact with several members of the original design team and workers who built the yachts with me, so if I do not know the answer to a question, hopefully I will be able to find someone who does.
If you have any documents or photographs at all, whatever condition, please let me know so I can get them copied or salvaged for the benefit of others. Or if you are aware of the whereabouts of any of the yachts, I would love to hear from you !
The range of yachts at sea in February 1980.
From left to right; the Mamba, Moonraker, Mirage, & Marauder