Name Silas Punt Replica

This unnamed vessel is a replica of a St Ives Punt known as SILAS PUNT, built for the mackerel boat JONADAB by William Bryant in 1910. The replica was built in 2005 by Jonny Nance of Devon, and was launched at St.Ives, Cornwall at Fair Mo that same year.

Punts were essential for St.Ives fishermen working from a tidal harbour as a means of getting to and from their vessels and for landing fish. Consequently they were stoutly built and flat-bottomed in order to float readily even when laden. A bulkhead fitted beneath the 4th thwart afforded a clear space to stand when the punt was otherwise filled to the gun'ls with fish. In the crowded harbour there was no room to row conventionally; instead they were propelled with a single oar using the notch cut into the top of the transom - a technique known locally as 'scullying'. Punts were frequently carried on the deck of the larger Mackerel luggers especially those heading north for the herring season.

In 2012, Jonny Nance was commissioned to build a second replica punt for the St.Ives Jumbo Association as a tender to the second Jumbo, WILLIAM PAYNTER. She was launched at 'Boats in the Bay' in St.Ives in 2013.