Launch of the boat Jimi Hendrix’s guitar built – and a few other bits and bobs

More than 1,000 people attended the launch of a boat crafted from 1,200 pieces of wood, including fragments from the Tudor warship the Mary Rose and Jimi Hendrix’s guitar.

The boat, part of an art project to mark the Olympics, was named Collective Spirit at the event yesterday, held at the Sussex boatyard where it was built.

Described as a “floating collage of memories”, the Boat Project was thought up by artists Gary Winters and Gregg Whelan, known as Lone Twin. They visited 20 locations seeking contributions.

These included a plank from the London 2012 velodrome, several hockey sticks, a Victorian policeman’s truncheon, crates used to transport gold as British securities to Canada during the Second World War and a hairbrush used by a make-up artist at Pinewood Studios in the 1960s.

The boat will make its maiden voyage along the south coast arriving at the Olympic sailing venue in Weymouth in August.