Polperro Gaffer

The Great Gale of 1891 destroyed the fishing fleets of many of the smaller Cornish villages.

The new boats built after the Gale with government intervention and support were to a new design, carvel planked and with the "modern" gaff rig, boats we now know as typically West Country with straight stem and transom sterns though the lines varied from port to port.

The rig was deliberately low as it had to be handled by a small crew in all weathers and they would lie to the nets with mainsail set.

However the sail area could be extended by setting a large topsail on a yard making these boats remarkably fast in races on high days and holidays.

These boats have excellent sea-keeping capability as witnessed by Dr Peter Pye who with his wife sailed his Polperro Gaffer Moonraker round the world in the 1940s.