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Registration number
117
Status
National Historic Fleet
a12admin
Details
Function
Fishing Vessel
Subfunction
Drifter
Location
Penryn
Vessel type
Cornish Lugger
Current use
Private use
Available to hire
No
Available for excursions
No
Construction
Builder
Pearce, Richard, East Looe
Built in
1904
Hull material
Wood
Rig
Lug
Number of decks
1
Number of masts
2
Propulsion
Sail
Number of engines
1
Primary engine type
Inboard diesel
Boiler type
None
Boilermaker
None
Dimensions
Breadth: Beam
12.98 feet
(3.96m)
Depth
6.49 feet
(1.98m)
Length: Overall
41.97 feet
(12.80m)
History
OUR BOYS was built in 1904 by Richard (Dick) Pearce in East Looe for George Woodrow Pengelly of Looe, and registered with the number FY 221. She was used for drift net fishing of pilchards and mackerel from Looe for 74 years. In the 1960s she was skippered by Bill Pengelly and was one of only five motorised former luggers still working from Looe (the others being Our Daddy, Guide Me, Iris and Eileen). By then her sister ship, Our Girls, had been converted to a yacht.
Some time after her retirement OUR BOYS was found in the Isle of Wight and restored (with a standing lug foresail) by George and Sue Dart from Seaton, Devon, in 1991, and spent time in private use from Axmouth. Mike Cotton brought her back to Looe in 1999 when she was owned by Paul and Maggie Greenwood, who returned her to the traditional Looe colours in 2002.
She was sold in 2005 and was based at Cowes for private use and chartering.
In 2009 she was sold and moved to Milford Haven for private use. A new engine was fitted in 2009 and she was refitted at the owner’s boatyard in winter 2010/11.
Update, August 2023 - Vessel acquired by new owners and will be based at Penryn for the foreseeable future.
Source: Historic Sail, Britain's surviving working craft, Paul Brown, the History Press.
Although this vessel is on the National Historic Fleet, we are currently lacking information on this particular vessel. If you have any information on this vessel past or present, please contact us.
Key dates
-
1904
Built by Richard Pearce of East Looe for the Woodrow Pengelly family
-
1912
A 7 horsepower petrol/paraffin engine was installed
-
1930s
Fitted with a 26 horsepower main engine and a 13 horsepower wing engine
-
1939-1945
Acted as Guard Ship for the Looe Fishing Fleet
-
1950s
Fitted with a 21 horsepower Lister and a 36 horsepower Russell Newbury engine
-
1973
Fitted with two 100 horsepower diesel engines and resumed fishing
-
1978
Ended fishing, was restored and returned to sail
-
1979
Sold to an unknown buyer
-
1980
Sold to M G Webb of Wootton Bridge, Isle of Wight, and restored to a yacht with dipping lug rig
-
1990
Sold to George Dart of Axmouth, Devon and used for racing at West Country and Breton regattas
-
2003
Sold to Maggie and Paul Greenwood for chartering
-
2006
Sold to Richard Parr and returned to the Solent
-
2009
Sold to Andrew McCloud and based in Milford Haven as a private leisure craft. Awarded a sustainability grant from NHS-UK for £1250 towards a new engine
-
2011
Vessel still based at Milford Haven and undergoing restoration and maintenance works
-
2013
New Owner
-
2014
Undergone a complete refurbishment to her interior and a new coaf roof added
Sources
Old Gaffer's Association Member's Handbook and Boat Archive, 1993
Finch, Roger, Sailing Craft of the British Isles, William Collins & Son Ltd, 1976
March, Edgar J, Sailing Drifters: The story of the herring luggers of England, Scotland and the Isle of Man, David & Charles Ltd, 1969
McKee, Eric, Working Boats of Britain, Conway Maritime Press, 1983
Cornish Lugger Association biennial Looe Regatta 1995 Programme, Cornish Lugger Association, 1995
Own this vessel?
If you are the owner of this vessel and would like to provide more details or updated information, please contact info@nationalhistoricships.org.uk
