8' L. Grossi Mahogany Tender (1920)

Grossi, 2.5m tender built by Louis Grossi Shipyard in Marseille, France. This is a solid wooden (mostly mahogany) tender built C. 1920’s; certianly not much later than 1930 since no plywood was used. The ID plate reads ‘Louis Grossi, Constructeur Naval, Marseille’. Very unusual construction — all solid 10mm wooden bottom and topside planks, and all seams were traditionally caulked with cotton. Six unusually shaped bottom planks, and one plank each for the topsides and transom. No keel batten (keelson) with the bottom planks caulked to the keel without fasteners and continuous frames from shear to shear. No chine logs — the bottom planks are nailed to the topside planks and caulked without inner or outer logs.
Louis Grossi was building yachts in Marseille from at least 1912 until 1939. The following sailing yachts built in the Grossi yard are known to be sailing today: Esterel designed by Leon Sibille, 1912; 8m racing yacht Marotte, 1924; Jean Gab cutter, designed by Andre Mauric, 1930; and Lak II designed by Andre Mauric, 1939. Grossi also built several meter racing yachts and Starboats. We have found no information on the history of this tender, nor, on any Grossi tenders.
Like most yards building yachts at the time, this tender was most likely built as an accessory for a sailing yacht. We welcome information on Grossi tenders. Contacting the maritime museum in Marseille (Société Nautique de Marseille) yielded no information.