Derek Ellard was born in England, and did most of his early sailing off the East Coast. He emigrated to Australia in the 1980’s, and soon afterwards designed the Scruffie 16, and founded Scruffie Marine to spread the word.

The 16 was a great success, with its long fixed ballasted keel, and simple rig

more for use than ornament, and this soon lead to a larger version – the 18’ Stornaway, and a smaller one – the 12’ Shimmy. The same concept was then developed into a real cruiser – the 24’ Scintilla.

All of these designs were developed and improved, and the pride people put into building and finishing their boats led to more effort being put into the hardwood trim, the laminated beams, the techniques to get a really good finish, and the boats were “scruffy” no more.

Such is the reputation of these boats in Australia that outward-bound operators and schools use them extensively, and the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) use them for cadet training. It’s also worth noting that at any one time over 25% of Scruffie Marine customers are professional seafarers. The boats rarely, if ever, come on the market and several customers have driven a thousand miles to acquire a good example.

In 2000, Derek brought all his experience to bear on a new project which became “Secret” – an entirely new design, which used the same build system, and shared the same “family values” as the rest of the range, but which melds together perfectly the English and the Australian – she looks like a miniature East Coast smack, and goes like a Sydney Harbour skiff.

In 2003 Max and Elaine Campbell bought the first Secret kit destined for the UK, and were so impressed with the design and the kit that they founded Whisper boats to promote the Scruffie Marine range in the UK.