The Trinity Vessels
Trinity operate four traditional sailing vessels: Leader,
Provident, Golden Vanity and Spirit of Britannia. Leader,
Provident and Golden Vanity were all built on the Dart
river at Galmpton and Spirit of Britannia was built in Boston. 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
four boats. 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 four boats, 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 same design of the traditional working boats. She was
bought and renovated in the early 1980's by the specially formed
Golden Vanity Trust.
Her long and exciting history involves a
variety of owners who used her for cruising far and wide, including
several trans-atlantic crossings.
 Spirit
of Britannia
is the newest addition to our fleet and at 70 feet and 40
tonnes, she is mid-way between Provident and Golden Vanity in size.
She was built
by the Worfolk Brothers in 1915; the largest gaff cutter to have
been built in Boston and she fished for many years from her home
port of King's Lynn.
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