PREPARATIONS are well advanced for a reunion of traditional, Cornish-built fishing boats, which in the last century would have worked the English Channel fishing grounds each day under sail.

It is 20 years since a group

of enthusiasts in Looe first

decided to arrange a biennial get-together of these majestic 'old ladies of the sea' – and the planned special birthday regatta in early summer also appears to have caught the eye of our Celtic fishing cousins across the Channel.

Not ones to miss a party, the French owners of similar fishing boats have been enquiring about regatta dates and tides in the hope of joining the Cornish Lugger Association in Looe Bay for a not-to-be-missed regatta over the June 12-14 weekend. I suspect it's a date for local diaries, too!

Some of the large, former pilchard and herring boats, which used to be such a regular sight in ports around the south Devon and Cornwall coastline, are now more than 100 years old.

The proud owners of these West Country fishing Luggers – traditional, wooden-built boats which sailed to the fishing grounds under lug rigs, hence their rather unusual name – are returning for what is sure to be an emotional reunion.

'It's two years since we last held a get-together and, sadly but inevitably, some of the people who sailed these famous boats and even a few of the old luggers themselves, are no longer with us,' says former Lugger fisherman Paul Greenwood, of East Looe, the chairman of the Looe-based Cornish Lugger Association which is organising the regatta.

This year's event is likely to attract as many as 40 boats with their huge canvas sails, as well a host of other smaller Luggers from all over the UK – including a healthy contingent of boats which regular race out of Beer in East Devon.

'Without events like this, and the devotion of the people who now own these aging craft, many of the old fishing boats would be left to rot away, taking with them such a vital piece of irreplaceable maritime history,' says Mr Greenwood, who has written a book about his days at sea, fishing on board Cornish Luggers.

'Our regatta in June should be a wonderful spectacle.'

Among those visiting the resort could be the Vilona May. Now owned by Chris and Marsha Rees, formerly of Millbrook, this attractive Polperro gaffer spent three autumns ago in the Caribbean before sailing home via the North American coastline and the icy waters off Greenland.

Like many of the boats attending the regatta, she was built in Looe – by the hand of Peter Ferris in 1898 – and was formerly known as the Muriel, owned and sailed by the Searle family of Polperro.

Others could include the Eileen. Built by Curtis and Mitchell in Looe in 1920, she originally replaced the Toms family's fast and regatta-winning Lugger, Little Charlie, which had been sold on to Plymouth owners.

The 42-footer was first worked by fisherman 'Watt' Toms and then by his son, Ernie, and later by Ernie's lad, Edward. Edward Toms sold the Eileen in 1977 to Mr Greenwood who eventually parted company with her to a Plymouth fisherman.

After almost 60 years as a working fishing boat, she is now owned by Lorraine Harris at Penryn.

The Cornish Lugger Association stresses that the principal objective of the reunion weekend is for a get-together of like-minded souls and a chance to parade sailing boats from a bygone age. It's not to do with racing and boat speeds.

But when the Looe Sailing Club starting gun sounds in the bay, the action will be as competitive as it was all those years ago when the boats vied to become the first back in port with the day's catch.

The regatta is again backed by Lugger owner Mike Cotton's Hillcrest House and Nursing Home and supported by all of the town's authorities; a host of local businesses and many individuals, too.

'We are fortunate so many of the local authorities and members of trade and business support us,' said Mr Greenwood.

'We never take their support for granted and much appreciate everything they do to help us run a regatta which always seems to be well received by visitors and local people.'

Secretary of the Cornish Lugger Association is Jonathan Brice, of Trewint Crescent, East Looe, and Looe businessman Andrew Gill is treasurer. For more details, please contact Paul Greenwood, the chairman of the Cornish Lugger Association, on Looe (01503) 265 380.

John Collings is sailing

correspondent of our sister paper,

the Sunday Independent, which

carries a host of watersports

news each and every week