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Headline : Tall ship Mascotte making its way up the Gloucester to Sharpness Canal in Gloucestershire for her winter refit at T.Nielsen and Company Shipbuilders and Riggers in Gloucester Docks on Friday 15th October 2021.
Caption : Tall ship Mascotte making its way up the Gloucester to Sharpness Canal in Gloucestershire for her winter refit at T.Nielsen and Company Shipbuilders and Riggers in Gloucester Docks on Friday 15th October 2021. Nielsen’s have looked after Mascotte for many years and she comes up annually for dry dock and survey. She’ll be in Gloucester until March 2022.
Mascotte is a Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter built in Newport in 1904 and is the largest surviving vessel of her type. The Pilot Cutters raced out of ports on the Bristol Channel to meet big ships and deliver pilots aboard to guide them safely into harbour. The Bristol Channel is renowned as one of the most difficult stretches of water in the world, with a massive tidal range and incredibly fast moving water.These boats, and the pilots aboard them, were the cornerstone of safe shipping there for years, and only fell out of use when motorised pilot boats replaced them. By necessity the Pilot Cutters became some of the fastest and most sea-kindly traditional sailing vessels ever made, due to the extreme conditions and the competitive nature of the piloting business.
A brand new charitable organisation is in the process of being formed, which will be operating Mascotte from Charlestown Harbour in Saint Austell for the next chapter in her story. ‘Rich’s Boat’ is being set up in memory of her Skipper of 9 years, Rich Clapham, who took his own life in 2019. The aim is to raise funds both to preserve this incredibly significant vessel, and to offer educational and restorative sailing experiences to a wide variety of groups. Rich was a phenomenal sailor, who helped a huge number of sailors find their own ‘edge’. ‘Rich’s Boat’ aims to continue this philosophy and provide a safe but exciting setting in which this can happen. It might just be getting out on the water for the first time, experiencing real teamwork and building confidence, or it might be expanding skills and experience among young people trying to get ahead in a difficult industry.
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