'Boadicea' built 1808 ~ the worlds oldest boat still sailing.

‘Boadicea’ is thought to be the world’s oldest sailing boat still sailing. It defies belief to think that there could be others still sailing that were built before the Battle of Waterloo. What is more her history is recorded with original registration papers going right back to 1808.

I have heard of two older boats which were built in the late seventeenth century, one cutter on St Michaels Mount in Cornwall and another on the Isle of Man but neither of these sail anymore. There again many museums have many that do not sail going back to antiquity.

Boadicea is an East Coast Oyster smack here rarely fishing on her home patch off West Mersea in Essex. Unlike her Falmouth based cousins East Coast smacks are not used for oyster dredging anymore. The one exception is the annual oyster fishing competition held of West Mersea in which Boadicea is competing. About ten sailing smacks see how many pounds of oysters they can catch under sail in a hectic two hour period. After the winner is announced, all the oysters are all put back on the sea bed.

One motor fishing boat dredging in about half an hour can catch them again and more. They should return to sail just as they do in Falmouth, (see Falmouth Working Boat, oyster dredging Carrick Roads 2006)

To see other smacks look at ‘Colne Smack Match off Brightlingsea, Essex 2001’ and ‘Phantom' built 1897 in the 1999 Colne Smack Race. The three pictures would make a good triplet on your wall.