Great white shark boat is fooling beachgoers on the Northumberland coast

For the past 15 years, Fin Bowron, has on and off been creating a life-like shark boat, completed with a realistic head, tail and fins.

Fin said: “It keeps getting built and then I get to the summer stage and then other boat activities and summer things take over and it never gets on the water. It goes back in the garden and then deteriorates and then I rebuild it again.

“It was done up as a display stage but never jumped to the proper stage, which was getting in the sea. This is the first time it's happened this year that I actually got it in the sea and have done what I should have done years ago.”

The shark boat’s attachments are made of fibreglass and came together after the shark’s head had been without purpose over the years and fitted on the boat perfectly. Now, it has finally made its way to the sea and set off to give onlookers a laugh or, in some cases, a good fright.

Fin usually puts his creativity and skills into making cast resin moulds of shells and six to seven foot beer and wine bottles, which are sometimes sold to pubs and restaurants as decoration. He does all the graphics and adds finishing touches like putting froth pouring from the caps, making them look more like artwork than a commercial statue.

“That’s how the garage ends up full. Anything creative that ends up there never seems to go out the door. If they ever got me on Dragon’s Den I think they would love the products but the business plan would be torn to shreds,” Fin added.

Fin has experience in building and restoring boats but this is the first time he has modified a boat in this way and was happy to find that it not only floats but also runs well.

He said: “I didn't know how it was going to go in the water. When you put engines on you don't know how balancing is going to go. Fortunately, it does work perfectly well. It’s probably out of sheer luck that it bounces and goes nice with that engine.”