West Country Gaff Ketch

Wooden Ships Comments on this West Country Gaff Ketch

West Country Gaff Ketch built by Pearce of Looe in 1919.

The design of the fishing boats built in the various ports of Devon and Cornwall all vary in detail but generally follow the same distinctive lines with a straight stem, long keel and transom stern and were built in a range of sizes from the little 20’ Toshers up to the larger boats, commonly 42’. The earlier boats were sail only with originally lug rig, always popular with working boats all round the country up to the last days of the 1800s when the gaff became more common.

With the advent of the railway bringing the tourist industry to the West Country, visitors who bought houses often wanted boats and the local yards would often build pleasure boats for their customers on the same lines as the fishing boats they were usually building. This is one such, built as a yacht on the lines of the fishing boats and slightly large giving a voluminous interior and lots of deck space.

The vessel was bought after the war by the author George Millar who wrote about his passage through the French Canals and on to Greece in his book, Isabelle and the Sea. In his hands she is believed to have been the first yacht into Paris after the war when the Duke and Duchesse of Windsor were entertained on board.  Apart from Millar, She has had many notable owners with interesting lives who have cruised the boat all around the Mediterranean and up to Scandinavia.

The vessel has been undergoing a very thorough refit in the present ownership since 2011 and the bulk of this work has been done.  The interior joinery is not yet finished and there is scope for a new owner to adapt the interior for their own needs.  The engines and systems are all up together and the rig is nearing the end of its thorough overhaul.

The owner has had a long love affair with this vessel and although he has come to the end of his journey with her, he is determined to see her in good hands with a new custodian who can finish the work and get her back to sea.  With that in mind the price is not the owners highest priority hence her attractive asking price.

Length on Deck                      50’

Length Waterline                   48’

Beam                                       13’

Draft                                       5’