Traditional Looe Lugger Sailing Vessel OUR BOYS For Sale by Wooden Ships Classic Yacht Brokers UK, Currently Located in Devon

Our Boys, registered in the National Historic Register, was built by Pearce of Looe in 1904 to traditional West Country fishing boat lines with a transom and straight stem. She has very fine underwater lines common to the early boats built for sail only. At the time of her build there were 60 boats in the Looe fishing fleet, all sailing out to the fishing grounds on a daily basis to haul their nets and lay the long lines. The design developed from many years of building these boats with ideas and techniques passed from generation to generation, these early sail only boats being exceptionally fast if handled correctly and very sea kindly helping the crews work in all conditions.

Built for George Pengelly, a local fisherman, and named after his seven sons, she was put to work in the family fishing business, drift netting for pilchard and herring or long lining for conger and turbot in the spring. She has undergone several changes over the years to adapt to the changing fishing industry, including the installation of her first engine in 1912. During World War 2 she was a guard ship for the Looe fishing fleet, and until the quite recent replacement of her deck she still had the fittings bolted on the foredeck to carry the machine gun. She fished commercially until the mid 1970’s at which point she was a twin engine motor fishing vessel with a small wheelhouse and gaff mizzen sail to help with directional stability while hauling nets.

At this stage she was sold out of fishing and first converted to a private yacht, but has since undergone several transformations, most recently in 2014 with the current owners who fitted a larger coachroof and a new interior, which at the same time allowed them to inspect the complete interior hull structure. In 2015 the hull was re-fastened completely with galvanised screws and various planks replaced as necessary.

The rig has been adapted and altered to make it as simple to use as possible, the boat is regularly cruised and raced with just 2 people aboard, and although self tailing winches may not be traditional, they help to make her a practical and user friendly cruising boat for modern times. She has been cruised extensively from southern Brittany, the Scillies and the south coast of England, and has attended numerous traditional boat festivals and regattas, always a popular boat and won her class convincingly at the 2022 Falmouth Classics. Our Boys is known to be a fast boat and her pedigree as an engine-less fishing boat is clear to see as she eats up the miles with ease.