Our Boats
Our festival wouldn’t be the same without the spectacular boats who visit. We invite scores of historic and classic 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 – we encourage you to please send us your details via the ‘Book your boat’ link on the homepage. We will do our very best to include your boat details on the website or in the festival catalogue.
Please note: the finer details of many of these vessels can be found through their skippers at the festival. As ever, the number of vessels attending is governed by the weather and we apologise in advance for any descriptive mistakes.
PLEASE NOTE – the boats shown below are from the 2026 festival.
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... Read more
Wendy May
Wendy May is an Olive Mary Maurice Griffiths gaff cutter design. She is 26ft and built with pitch pine on oak frames. Built in... Read more
Veracity
Veracity is a stylish 32 ft dipping Lugger, built by Marcus Rowden in 2004. She is now owned by Holly Latham. Read more
Wild
Wild is a 36ft, Percy Dalton, Falmouth Working Boat. Built in 1982 in Mylor Bridge, carvel construction of Iroko on oak, she was originally... Read more
Vilona May
Vilona May is a 29ft Polperro Gaffer, built in Looe in 1898. She’s sailed across the Atlantic five times and has also sailed to... Read more
William Paynter
The William Paynter is a Jumbo class lugger, open, double-ended and introduced exclusively to St.Ives during the mid-1880’s. The modern Jumbos are replicas of some of the smallest (20ft... Read more