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The Leila Sailing TrustLeila, an 116 year old, 15 ton gaff cutter of 42 foot on deck, 10 foot beam and 8 foot draught, is being restored for sail training for young people of Lowestoft, Great Yarmouth and Southwold. An appeal is being launched for funds to repair hull damage and fit her out to Marine Coastguard Agency Standards.  NEWS26th January 2010 - We have raised £50,000 from the Lottery and £40,000 from private donations, but urgently need another £35,000 to finish the restoration
An East Coast YachtLeila is a rare example of a Victorian racing cutter, built in 1892 in Charlton, London for a businessman who sailed with the Royal Temple Yacht Club at Ramsgate, and is on the National Historic Ships Register. She won the Round Britain race in 1904. Since 1961, she has been owned by the Alison family and moored on Fisher's Quay, Great Yarmouth. She was found by Rob Bull and David Beavan of Southwold in the summer of 2008, when they set up the trust. She will mainly operate from the historic berth in Lowestoft. First StepsInitial funding for lifting out and a survey was obtained from the National Historic Ships Register at Greenwich, and a private donation. She was moved from Yarmouth to Southwold on a quiet sunny day in September 2008. It took three hours to motor out of Yarmouth harbour as the fan belt broke halfway and there were so many barnacles and mussels clinging to the hull after lying for six years alongside. The main and a sort of staysail were set as we cleared the Stanford channel off Lowestoft and a pair of porpoise played her wake as she neared Southwold. The entry to Southwold, just before the spring tide high water, was perfectly timed and she tied alongside to shift 5 ton of internal ballast and de-rig ready for lift out. She was lifted out on September 30th by Harbour Marine Services, when a strong NW’ly wind over Scotland gave us a good spring high water. As a local fisherman said when she came out on the cradle, ‘She just kept coming’ – although she looks like a smack above the water line, her eight foot draught shows her racing yacht pedigree. Next StepsShe has been surveyed and a budget of £125,000 plus volunteer labour will restore her. The hull should be finished by Summer 2010 and she will be fitted out to MCA standards in Lowestoft with the help of trainees from Yarmouth College and Kirkley High School. We plan to enter the 2011 Tall Ships Race in the North Sea with a crew of 7 local youngsters. LinksThe following individuals and businesses have helped in Leila's restoration: Harbour Marine Services, Southwold - http://www.southwoldharbour.co.uk/ Hugh Lamb, yacht surveyor of Shotley, Suffolk Blakes Paints Mobile welding of Southwold, Nick Curtis. The National Historic Ships Register - www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk/ Waveney District Council - www.waveney.gov.uk/ Yarmouth College. Kirkley High School, Lowestoft - www.kirkleyhigh.com The Alison's of Great Yarmouth Donations from Dick, Geoff, Mathew, Jack and Michelle of Southwold, and Rick and Jill who sailed on to Holland her fifty years ago. The PD James Trust Yarmouth college The Miles Trust run by Bob Nicholson. Lowestoft Tool Company Anglia Press Agency National Heritage Lottery Fund Time and Tide Museum of Great Yarmouth Maritime Heritage East T. Knipe and Arthur Smith, timber merchants of Cumbria and Worksop. |
