Much loved boat celebrates 200th birthday

Posted on June 18^th 2008

A boat, which was built three years after the death of Nelson at Trafalgar and seven years before Napoleon met his waterloo, is celebrating its 200th birthday.

The twelve and a half ton boat, named Boadicea is a 30ft Oyster Smack, which was built in 1808 and said to be the oldest boat in the world that is still regularly sailed.

From 1808 to 1938 the boat was commercially used, until it was purchased for £175 by the current owners grandfather. All of the registration documents of the past 2 centuries have been kept, detailing the dozen owners that have owned the smack over the years.

Boadicea can be seen during the spring and summer racing with other smacks and classic yachts and in the autumn it is used for herring fishing.

The owner hopes that the much-loved boat can be passed on to the next generation of his family.

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