ace of sails

the other boat with the same hull,the ace of sails was discontinued,when I was manager of florance marine,we built the pedro and the ace was turned into an open fishing boat called the fisherman it did not sell very well,but we built a lot of pedros,mainly for the German market,i have never heard or seen a female pedro  regards harry

Hi Harry,

I was excited to read that you were with Florance Marine but curious to read that you know nothing of the Senorita. Do you know how long the company existed and when were you with them? Could any have been built before or after your time there?

It is possible that the picture we see on the advert on the Pedro Page was just an initial prototype and none were sold. The sail logo and number could suggest that might be the case. Although Bernd Drumm believes that Anjucobe may be a Senorita I no longer think it is as the photographs show the standard depth keel and he refers to a stuck steel plate - which also means it's not a standard Pedro. In fact, his boat appears to be unique with a much extended hull which also lacks the SeaHawk and Pedro's bilge fins.

A year before Bernd found the site I spotted an eBay advert for this boat:


Just a standard Pedro, I thought, until I saw the photos of the trailer that went with it:


Oh to see that boat out of the water! Currently, that one trailer is the only evidence I have that the Senorita could really exist! Maybe I should update the Pedro page!

I was there from 1977 till the fire in 1980 ,most of the moulds were destroyed in the fire which burnt down the factory,the firm started in 1970 as far as I remember,the pic of a trailer you sent is for another type of boat iam sure,if you look at the pic of the boat,just aft of the starboard window is a small black plaque,and I think it says pedro on it

Hi Harry,

I'm sure you're right about that plaque, as I have seen them on other boats, and they do say "Pedro". However, the trailer photo is just one of several of the same trailer that appeared in the eBay advert for that boat and it is exactly like the standard SeaHawk/Pedro trailer - except for the extra height for the bilge fin supports.

You say you recall nothing of the Senorita, yet the advert that appears on the Pedro/Senorita page on this site indicates it was being advertised during your time with Florence Marine.


I wonder if that is because those in the factory thought of the deep keel as an optional fitting for the Pedro rather than a different boat. Given that the advert shows the same logo and sail number sequence for the two boats, that would not be inconceivable - and it could be that no boats with the deep keel were sold during your time with the company.

The evidence I have for the design of the deep keel is restricted to a review of the SeaHawk that appeared in Yachting World in 1971. That includes this image:


This suggests that a large lump of shaped cast iron would have been attached by four bolts to the base of the standard SeaHawk keel, replacing standard drop keel plate. Such an addition would be a very worthwhile option for the buyer of a Pedro, who had access to a swinging mooring in deep water. It could even justify the fitting a full SeaHawk sail plan, rather than the much smaller Pedro rig.

It's also worth saying that no one has yet claimed ownership of a deep keel SeaHawk. Given that trailer I believe the "Pedro" above is the only known example of the hull being fitted with a deep keel.

i see it appers on the page about the senorita,i am still in contact with some of my old work force so i will ask around,the other thing is to make the two boats you would only need the mould for the senorita,and you would drop a blank in the keel to mould the pedro,and i know that this never happend,as we only had pedro moulds,but i will see what i can find out regards harry

Hi Harry,

I take your point about putting a blank in a deeper Senorita mould to make a shallower Pedro but that would suggest the Senorita came first and SeaHawk and Pedro followed as "conversions". I think it is the other way round.

I am sure the SeaHawk, Ace of Sails, Pedro and Senorita share the same basic mould, with an additional tools used to keep a slot free for the SeaHawk keel plate and bolt holes for the Senorita.

I believe the sketch from the Yachting World review shows that the deeper Senorita keel was NOT part of the hull moulding with additional scrap iron and concrete poured in. Rather, it was an external lump of metal attached, with the four large bolts shown in the diagram, onto the bottom of the standard hull's shallow keel.

This is the technique used in "River Cruisers", the traditional Broads yachts most of which have drafts between 2'6" and 3'0". Of necessity, they are long and have lead weights bolted onto the bottom edge. John Bennett was based in the Broads and his first designs for the boat were in wood. It was only later that he came up with the GRP hull that went into large scale production in the SeaHawk we know today, followed by the other designs.

Although the advert on the site dates from 1978, I guess it is possible that the pictures are quite a bit earlier. Do you recall what the earliest sail numbers were in your time?