Our boats
Our Festival wouldn’t be the same without the spectacular boats who visit. We invite scores of historic vessels to fill the harbour, re-creating the sights, smells and flavour of what was once an important, vibrant fishing port. Traditional wooden vessels, (from Brittany to Falmouth) are rigged with spars and tan sails and line the harbour wall. They then set out for an impressive parade of sail over the three days, a sight that stirs the heart of even the most hardened land lubber.
Boat Owners – if you would like to visit us in 2018 please send us your details using this form. Please give us details of your boat including dimensions and the type of berthing required. Please let us know about any special requirements your boat may have and preferably include a phone number we can get you on too.
Select to see if you want to see the boats who have confirmed for this year, or last year’s vessels.
Previous years' boats
Abel Dro
Abel Dro is an Ilur design by François Vivier – based closely on traditional Breton inshore fishing boats. The plans were originally produced for the magazine Le Chasse-Marée in the 1980s, as a boat for home building. Since then she has become the most popular of Vivier’s designs. Avel Dro is Breton and means wind shift. She was professionally built in Cancale, Brittany by Les Charpentiers Reunis in 1994. Roger Barnes has owned her since 2004 and uses her extensively for sail and oar cruising along the French and UK coasts, sleeping aboard under canvas.
Amelie Rose
Amelie Rose is a replica of a 19th Century wooden Pilot Cutter and was launched in 2009. She is licensed to carry up to 10 passengers. Built by Working Sail in Cornwall using traditional methods, she has worked as a successful holiday and training charter vessel and in 2012 starred in “The Hungry Sailors” on ITV. She is based on the Beaulieu River in the heart of the New Forest and sails the English Channel, from the Solent to the Isles of Scilly, Channel Islands and Brittany.
This year Amelie Rose is being used as a project to tackle sea plastic pollution. This is a fantastic non-profit project. For more information and to support the team, take a look at www.cleanseasodyssey.org. Nick and Rebecca say ‘We started on June 2nd and are sailing Amelie Rose with a volunteer crew anti-clockwise around the channel. On the way we visit ports, harbours and festivals to meet with local people, do some beach cleans and film stories about plastic pollution in the area and what local people are doing about it. The project is about raising awareness that plastic pollution in the sea is not just a problem in far away oceans but also in our own seas. Findings are all published.
At Sea Salts, Amelie Rose and her crew will welcome folk aboard so they can look around the exhibits and information boards and chat about the real threat of plastic pollution.
Bounty’s End
It would go down in history as the Mutiny on the Bounty. In short, Captain Bligh and a handful of loyal men were forced into a tiny open boat and left to die. Instead, they managed to navigate 4000 mies to safety, through some of the world’s most remote and unforgiving seas. This remains one of the greatest survival feats in British history. Setting out to recreate the passage, a crew of nine men made the journey in a replica open 23ft wooden boat, built in Richmond, London by Mark Edwards MBE. Using traditional navigation and surviving off the same meagre rations as Bligh, the men were cast adrift 35 miles to the south of Tofua, near the Kingdom of Tonga. Their mission, to survive and safely navigate across 4000 miles of open ocean to Kupang, Timor. The group were led by Anthony Middleton, SAS Who Dares Wins frontman. However, British yachtsman, Conrad Humphreys, who has circumnavigated the world three times, was the Sailing Master of Bounty’s End. They all faced a never-ending struggle, where extreme hunger, fatigue, illness, conflict and stormy seas threatened to engulf their tiny boat and end their hopes of reaching Timor safely. The Bounty Project is now an exciting and inspiring collaboration between Conrad and The Island Trust, to support young and disadvantaged people with life changing voyages at sea.
Caupona
Caupona was launched in 1939 and is one of the early pre-war Laurent Giles Vertue designs, the 8th boat of only a handful built to this design. She is currently based in Dartmouth and owned by Richard Gregson. The design proved so successful that they altered it slightly with increased freeboard and a doghouse, to give more interior space and volume. Examples of these Vertues have circumnavigated the globe, one of the most well known Vertues, V35, was sailed across the Atlantic from Falmouth to New York by Sir Humphrey Barton, founder of the Ocean Cruising Club. They have an unusual ‘slutter’ rig, a combination of sloop and cutter, which gives numerous sail combinations for different weather conditions.
Drekly
Drekly is a 16ft Randan Pilot gig. Built somewhere in Cornwall about 100 years ago, she was bought by Mark Edwards on Turks internet auction 8 years ago and fully restored. Drekley is now used as the workboat and general hire boat at on the River Thames, Richmond, London. She has been to SSS many times before and has been rowed in the Great Thames River Race by a group of guys from Mousehole. She’s now fitted with mast sail and sculling notch.
Elizabeth Mary
The Elizabeth Mary was built by Pearce of Looe in1908, for the Oliver family. She measures 26ft on the waterline. She fished out of Polperro for years, registered as FY28. She carries the traditional Polperro Gaff Rig with a loose footed main. She had various owners and was used for dredging oysters in the Fal for 10 years. Trevor Vincett, from Dartmouth, bought her and sailed her in local regattas, where she gained a reputation as a fast boat. Boat builder, Julian Burns owned her for a while before she passed to John Moody who partially restored her in his Salcombe boat yard. The present owner, George Dart, first saw her in Moody’s woodyard and persuaded John to part with her. He took her to Peter Williams’ Boddinick boatyard for re-planking and spent two years completing the restoration himself. She appears on the front cover of Ian Heard’s ‘Classic Boats of the West Country’, and also mentioned in ‘The History of The Falmouth Working Boat’.
Eve of St Mawes
Eve owes her heritage to the Pilot Cutters of the Isles of Scilly. She’s a rugged, versatile craft, built to withstand the rigours of the Western Approaches in comfort and safety. These little ships were meant to be fast, weatherly and immensely strong. Traditionally constructed in 1997 by Luke Powell, she has a sense of history within her solid timbers and certainly built to last. She’s been admired, photographed and written about countless times. Under full canvas from overhanging boom to bowsprit cap, she becomes a 51ft Cutter, able to set five sails, keeping experienced sailors on their toes. Eve creates quite a spectacle around the small ports and harbours of Cornwall, Brittany and the Scillies and is owned by Classic Sailing, St Mawes, Cornwall.
Freya
Freya is 15m long with a beam of 4.5m and draws 2.5m. She was built during the Second World War on the Baltic Sea in East Germany and worked as a fishing boat for most of her working life. Once retired from fishing, she was converted to Gaff Rigged and coded for chartering around Netherlands and the North Sea. She is now a cruising liveaboard, owned by Andrew Mccloud and kept at Millbrook, Cornwall.
Girl Sybil
(PZ 595) was built in Porthleven in 1912 by the boat building firm of Kitto. She is 35ft, plus an eighteen foot bow spirit. Originally named the Patricia, she worked out of Newlyn as a pilchard driver. Originally a sailing boat, later motorised with wheelhouse added. Early skipper was Bob Vingoe (GH). The Patricia would have been renamed Girl Sybil when the boat was acquired by the Vingoe family of Newlyn. The owner named the boat for his daughter. His daughter was the manageress of the Stevenson Grocery shop in the Strand and later married Arthur Gribble. She acquired the boat on the death of her father in the mid 1930s. He died on the boat at sea. The boat was then sold to the Stevensons who retained the name and continued to work her as a pilchard driver throughout the war years. The fishing boat PZ 476 Margaret was towed in by Joe Carr, her engines caught fire at Lamorna in 1940, the crew were saved. Billy Stevenson joined her crew when he left school in 1943, aged 15, when the boat was engaged in pilchard fishing. Bobby Jewell worked on the boat at one time, fishing for pilchards. She is now owned by Louis Goddard.
Grace
Grace is a 1925 wooden Danish top-masted Gaff Ketch, 77ft in length and originally built for fishing. She is owned by the pioneering Falmouth based mental health charity, Sea Sanctuary. The first of their kind in UK waters (and possibly the world!), Sea Sanctuary delivers programmes designed to improve people’s mental health whilst sailing amidst Cornwall’s stunning coastal environment.
Julitta
Julitta is a Pooduck skiff class lugsail dinghy, designed by Joel White and based on a workboat from Maine, USA. She is plywood and epoxy construction and was built at Totnes in 1993. Her specs are 12’8’’ LOA, 4’5’’ beam, 8’’ draft and a 84 sq ft sail area. She’s owned by John Scott.
Katla
Katla, owned by Aidan Begbie, is a 26ft Gaff Cutter. She was built in 2006 in Portugal by Martin Lund and is of the Wynfall design by Mark Smaaklers. She has made two Atlantic crossings to and from the Caribbean and has recently been brought back to life in Penryn.
Keewaydin
Built in 1913 by G and T Smith in Rye, Keewaydin is a Lowestoft Sailing Smack. She is oak on oak, 23.5m in length, 6m beam, 3m draught and is gaff rigged. She fished out of Padstow from 1919 to 21, with the early years mainly trawling the banks of the North Sea. In 1937, she became a cargo vessel sailing the Baltic Sea. During the Second World War, Keewaydin ferried refugees from Denmark to neutral Sweden and in one particular trip, transported 420 commandos to their destination. She was converted into a yacht in 1963 and had the distinction of entering the very first Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race in 1972. After being used for many years as a charter ship in the Mediterranean, she was bought in Malta during 1998 by Paul Welch, who’s still her present owner. She has now moved home ports from Cardigan to Falmouth. Keewaydin means the home wind, the North West wind. This is from the Longfellows epic1855 poem ‘the song of Hiawatha’. Paul wants to promote a more sustainable way of travel and carrying cargo. Last year, she brought a cargo full of onions complete with onion johnnies to the Cornish shores.
Lassie of Chester
Lassie of Chester is a 36ft Morcombe Bay Prawner, built by Crossfields in Conway in 1937. She is one of the last “Nobbies” to be built in this yard and fished the Dee during WW II and later in Fleetwood. In the 80’s she was left in the mud but was then restored by Scott Metcaff in Port Penthyn, Bangor. She has had periodic refurbishment, latterly be the present owners. She has sailed extensively, taking part in Classic Boat events in Britain and France. The present owner is Arian Farey of Abergele, Conway, North Wales. Lassie appears in the list of Historic Boats.
Le Grand Léjon
Le Grand Léjon is based in the port of St Brieuc in Brittany, France. She is a 48 footer, with a Breton Standing Lug rig and built in 1991 by Yvon Clochet of Beg Melen, River Treguier. She’s an exact replica of the 1896 vessel, La Jeanne d’Arc and in 1992, won the top award at the Brest and Douarnenez Festivals as the most authentically reconstructed vessel. She’s now used for charter and educational cruises.
Lizzie May
A well-known writer on traditional sail and a former owner of pilot cutters, Tom Cunliffe, wrote of Lizzie May “To lay amongst these timbers listening to the sea rushing past is to feel seafaring’s lost heartbeat”. At 42′ long, she’s a beautiful replica of a pilot cutter of the mid to late 19th century, with her design inspired by the historic craft of the Isles of Scilly.
Lizzie May was the second creation from the acclaimed boat builder Luke Powell, originally taking 20 months to build her in 1998, then refurbished in 2001. Working pilot boats in the age of trading sailing ships had to have a reasonable degree of comfort below deck, so that the pilot would be fresh to take over a ship after spending perhaps several days aboard his pilot cutter ‘seeking’ a seagoing trading ship to see safely to its destination. Lizzie May’s accommodation, deck and rig are true to pilot cutters in the golden age of trading sail and her ambiance is widely regarded as authentic. She is a little gem, a lovely boat to sail, handles like a dingy, proving very smart in confined waters and easy to manoeuvre being so well balanced.
Maggie
Maggie is a 30 ft Polperro Gaffer, built in Looe in 1908 by Ferris for the Searle Family. She was later fished by Wren Jolliff who was the Great Grandfather of the present owner. Dave Cowan found her in Hey Bridge basin and she is now back after a 70 year absence.
Molly Oxford
Molly Oxford is a Heard 28’ Gaff Cutter from Gaffers & Luggers Mylor and completed by Robertsons of Woodbridge in 1989. The current owner is Chris Lane, who was brought up in Penzance and now sails out of Chichester Harbour in West Sussex. Molly Oxford participated in the Falmouth Classics and the Brest & Douarnenez Festivals in 2016.
Moose
Moose was built in 1925 by Pearns and Son of Looe. She was originally known as Moby Dick, owned by Looe Harbour master and used for Shark fishing. She’s pitch pine on oak, 32ft long and a classic Looe Lugger. During WW2, she was one of many vessels commissioned by the MOD, to repatriate troops from Dunkirk. But only a handful of Cornish boats went in the end. She was converted to a Gaff Cutter in 1990 and from then, sailed extensively the West Coast of Ireland, Scotland and the South West of England. We’re very excited to see her now owned by a Mousehole resident.
Our Daddy
Our Daddy is a 45ft Lugger (75′ with bowsprit and bumpkin) and carries 2,500 sq feet of sail. Built for (£435) in Looe in 1921 by Dick Pearce for the J E Pengelly family, she was skippered by their son Alfred John. She fished for some 65 years in the pilchard, mackerel and later shark fishing industries. She was the last sailing Lugger to work out of Looe and was then owned by Mike Darlington and Stuart Murray. Mike, who fished on the boat with the legendary Alfred John Pengelly said: `A J told me: “One day, she will be yours.” But he forget to say it would take 21 years…’ Our Daddy has been re-built as a stunning classic with a Dandy Rig and since 2014, owned by Steve Styles and Tim Sunderland. She will once again be working as a traditional charter vessel along the South West Coast and across to France, visiting many of the festivals en route.
Our Kate
Our Kate is a graceful 18ft Gaff Rigged Pilot Cutter, built in Salcombe, Devon by Edgar Cove in 1910. She has been owned by the Tyler family for over 40 years and is still sailed by the family from Mousehole.
Pedrosa
Pedrosa was built in 1963 at Fairey Marine, Hamble, Southampton. She is a 28ft sloop rigged motosailor. Hot moulded Agba (mahogany) on pitch pine frames. Her owner Andy Wheeler keeps her in Penzance.
Pettifox
Pettifox was built in 1992 by Peter Martin and Alfie Hicks and is the last sailing boat to be built on the Isles of Scilly and is still registered (SC 139). With 1,000 sq feet of sail, she’s a 36ft Gaff Cutter with a good turn of speed. Owned and skippered by the very likable Johnny Barley, she’s used for day sails and chartering from the Fowey area.
Pomona
Pomona is 27 ft Bermudan sloop, with 5.5 ft draft and a long keel with no legs. She is built from mahogany on oak in 1956 and designed by Collin Cowan, who worked in the Laurent Giles office. Her last owner circumnavigated the world and made 5 Atlantic crossings in her. Now that’s a talking point for a small vessel. She is now owned by Danny Rocca.
Rebecca Kate
Rebecca Kate is a 16ft Port Isaac lugger, built by students in Lowestoft in 2001 for the boat’s designer Martin Castle. She is based on the lines of a vessel sailed and fished out of Port Isaac by his grandfather, over a hundred years ago. She has a typical two masted lug rig with a bowsprit and boomkin. She is owned by Jonny Mills.
Ripple
Ripple was built in St Ives by Henry Trevorrow and registered as SS19 in 1896. For 25 years until 1933, she was used for fishing under the ownership of the Barber family. Her skippers were William and his brother Matthew. She was originally propelled by sail, with two lugsails carried on two masts. In 1915 this was boosted by the installation of a 16 hp port wing engine. She undergone a complete renovation a decade ago by the present owner John Lambourn and mainly sails in Mounts Bay.
Rose of Argyll
Rose is newer than many luggers, though probably does the most sea miles than many combined. She was clinker built in Scotland and not in Cornwall. Her specific type is a Loch Fyne skiff and a replica of a herring boat from the early twentieth century. First sailed as a yacht, she was then abandoned in a garden in the Gulf of Morbihan in 1990. She was bought and restored and relaunched in 2009. Owned by Benoit and Elise, her home port is Lannilis, Aber wrach. The boat is skillfully handled under sail (as she’s engineless) and port manoeuvres are carried out by rowing and sculling.
Seascan
Seascan was built by the famous Scottish yard Alexander Nobles and sons in 1962. She was a research vessel and finished her working life as a fishing boat. She is larch planking on oak frames and is powered by a 6lxb Gardner. Owned by Rob Greenway.
Snowdrop
Snowdrop is a tough little 22 foot Deben Four Tonner from the early 1930’s. With a beam of 8ft, a draft of 5ft and a 9ft bowspirit, she’s a beautifully balanced boat that sails around Mounts Bay for most of the year. Winning Sea Salts and Sail’s U23 foot class in 2014 and runner up in 2016, she’s now owned by Geoff May and sails out of Newlyn.
Sula
Sula is a Western Highland skiff built in larch on oak by Sandy McDonald in Ardnamurchan, Scotland in 1993. She also won the ‘Classic Boat’ amateur boat building competition at the Wooden Boat Show in 1993. She’s 11’3’’ long and owned by John Scott.
Trooper
Trooper is a 9 ton Bermudan Cutter, canoe stern and centre cockpit constructed in wood in 1959 by David Hillyard of Littlehampton. David Hillyard made his name boat building affordable wooden boats in between the 1920s and early 1970s. The 9 ton series was his most popular and Trooper was built in the heyday of the yard. Hillyards are known for their solid construction but not for their speed. She has a new rig designed in 2005 by the renowned marine architect Ed Burnett and sails beautifully. She is owned locally by the Guys and is used for local Helford cruising with all the family aboard.
Twilight
Twilight was built as a motor boat by H J Mean & Son at Axmouth, Devon in 1973/4 and later converted into a Beer Lugger in 2005/6 by the present owner Alan Abbott. She regularly sails in the Beer Lugger Club Races, Beer Regatta, the Biennial Looe Lugger Festival as well as Sea Salts and Sail Festival. She’s a hard boat to beat!
Veracity
Veracity is a stylish 32 ft dipping Lugger, built by Marcus Rowden in 2004. She is now owned by Holly Latham.
Winnie
Winnie was built in 1897, a 28ft Falmouth Working Boat and owned by Arthur Williams. We’re delighted to see her return (enginless (ish!) to this side of the Lizard for she’s an impressive sight under full sail. In a close hauled contest, there are few who cannot be inspired by the beauty of these powerful Gaff Rigged Cutters. Outwardly, little has changed in nearly 200 years for the FWB, which under the laws of local harbour byelaws, prohibits the dredging of oysters by any mechanical means.
Wylo II
Wylo II is owned by Nick Skeates of Warminster and is a 32ft Centreboard Gaff Cutter. She was built in New Zealand in 1980 to the owners design. She has a steel hull, wood deck and has now circumnavigated 3 times, via the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, Panama Canal, New Zealand and South Africa. Nick is a fantastic character full of soul, wisdom and experience. An honour to have him here.
Zephon
Zephon was designed by Harrison Butler and built by the Probert Brothers, Swansea. The build started before WWII but as with many boats, this was put on hold during the war years and she was completed and launched in 1950. Until the late 1960’s she was owned by Mr D.G. Probert of Milford Haven. She is sail No. Z278. She is one of only 10 Zyklon class boats built as opposed to 52 of the Z4 Tonners. Her hull (pitched pine on bent oak) is to the standard Z4 design but she has raised topsides which hugely increases the interior volume of the boat. This alteration was designed by Cpt O.M. Watts and proved to be very effective. Sailed by Giles Gilbert (the present owner) from the Shetland Islands to Cornwall in 2016, since then she has been sailed around the Cornish coast and out to the Isles of Scilly. Currently sailed without an engine.
