The Vessels

Trinity operate three traditional Brixham sailing vessels, Leader, Provident and Golden Vanity.  All three were built on the Dart river at Galmpton. Leader and Provident are two of the last working sailing trawlers still afloat.

Leader, at 105 feet and 110 tonnes is the largest, and oldest, of the three.  She was built in 1892 at A.W.Gibbs boatyard at Galmpton on the river Dart. She was taken to Scandinavia in 1907 where after a period out of service she was rebuilt and re-rigged. In 1985, she was taken to the West coast of Scotland, where she was used for sailing charter holidays.

In 1996 she was brought home to South Devon, and operated from Dartmouth until 1999, when she became part of the Trinity fleet, and returned to Brixham. 

Provident  is slightly smaller, at 95 feet LOA and 85 tonnes.  She was built in 1924, also on the Dart, as a replacement for an earlier vessel of the same name, sunk during the first world war. After a period in private ownership, she arrived in Salcombe in 1951, where she became the founding vessel of the Island Cruising Club.

In the late 1980's, Provident underwent a major refit, and was re-launched in 1991. She continued to sail with the  ICC until 1999, when she started working from Brixham as part of the Trinity Sailing Foundation.

 

Golden Vanity is the smallest of the three, at 53 feet and 20 tonnes.  She was built as a yacht for local artist Arthur Briscoe in 1908, at the same yard as Leader and Provident, but followed almost exactly the design of the traditional working boats.  She was bought and renovated in the early 1980's by the specially formed Golden Vanity Trust.

 

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