Suhaili was built in Mumbai with the help of Royal Bombay Yacht Club, India in 1963. She follows plans designed by William Atkin for "Eric" in 1923. Her design is based on the Norwegian pilot boat designs of Colin Archer.[2]
In 1997 Suhaili went to the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich as an exhibit,[5] but the controlled atmosphere began to shrink her planking, and, unwilling to see her die this way, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston removed her to Falmouth, Cornwall in 2002 and re-fitted her again. She still belongs to Knox-Johnston and was re-fastened at the Elephant Boatyard at Bursledon, near Southampton. The objective was to get her back into commission and Knox-Johnston duly took delivery in February 2020, as reported in an Elephant Boatyard Facebook post.
