The story of the GK24 began with the prototype : Chris Hawkins' IOR 'quarter tonner' boat 'Ebblake IV' built in cold-moulded mahogany at Aquaboats, which was raced successfully in the Solent.

Westerly's liked the design and decided to put it into production as the GK24. Chris Hawkins worked with Peter Anstey at Laurent Giles to create the production version, changing the deck to provide a window into the interior and a little more headroom
Chris then raced a production GK24, 'GateKrasher'.

GateKrasher was also a success and Chris won races against top Quarter Ton boats (including a recent World Quarter ton champion,'Genie' designed by Farr).

While he was winning races, Chris always raced with all anchors, chain, warps, fenders, bunks and cushions and crew kit on board. The boat was not stripped out for racing.

Chris's most recent production design is for the Hawk 20 which is a 'self-righting' 'unsinkable' dayboat which has sold over 200, as both a pleasure boat and a sail training boat.