West Country Tosher Boats Review and Specs

Year: 1895  
Manufacturer: Wooden Ships
Price: £12,000
(US$18,624)  

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West Country Tosher.                                                             The Tosher is the generic name given to the small open fishing boats that worked the inshore waters of the Cornish coast.   Most of the small ports along this coast built similar boats but with small differences only recognised by a few people these days. They are frequently given the name Mevagissey Toshers where so many of them were to be found. They were built to a length of 20’ because up to 20’ they had free berthing in Mevagissey. Like all working boats they carried a single dipping lug being the simplest and therefore the cheapest to build and in practice the simplest to work, an ideal rig for a single man working his fishing lines while also sailing his boat.   The Great Gale of 1891 wiped out a large portion of the Cornish fleet. A Government sponsored plan was put in place to rebuild the fleet and the gaff rig was adopted and became the acceptable rig. It seems likely that the smaller boats were not replaced being uneconomical and the slightly larger Hookers became more popular. These varied between 26’ – 28’ and had more potential and greater range, often worked by several men with a tiny cabin forward for over-night working. There are now few of these boats left, so many having no value and already tired from years of fishing have just reverted to nature from whence they came.   This is one of the lucky ones, found by the owner in a Cornish barn and revived rather than rebuilt, preserving as much of the original timber as possible commensurate with ensuring safety and sea-worthiness. She is planked in pitch-pine, steam bent oak timbers on an oak back-bone. She has a long iron ballast keel, straight stem and a transom thought by some to indicate her building in Looe rather than Mevagissey.   She is fitted with a rebuilt Yanmar diesel driving a new quarter prop so as not to spoil her original underwater lines with a centre-line prop. She has a new fore deck, aft deck and heavy thwarts.   The next stage is to rig her with either her original dipping lug or a high peaked gaff cutter rig. The skilled work has been carried out by Gweek Quay Boat Yard and Weir Quay Boat Yard with able assistance from the enthusiastic owners.   Satisfaction in saving a culture has no price but it is now time for someone else to take her to the next stage  

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Fuel  Hull Material  Number of Engines

Diesel Wood 1

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Contact Information

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+44 (0)1803 833899 +44 (0)1803 833899

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