Fiona

Current boat name

Fiona

Boat class

7180

Sail number

108 J

Function

Fishing and Hunting

Type

Length (m / ft)

8.08 / 26ft 6in

Beam (m / ft)

2.43 / 8ft

Leeward

Keel - long

Masts

2 Wood

Rig type

Lugger

Propulsion

Sail/engine

Date of build

1860 c

Place of build

Jersey

Present use

Museum

FIONA was built as a traditional two masted Jersey fishing lugger c1860. C1900 she was re-rigged as a gaff cutter and just after WWI she was fitted with a small auxiliary engine.FIONA was one of the small craft involved in the evacuation of allied troops from St Malo in June 1940. An action, for which the St Helier Yacht Club were awarded the right to fly a defaced Red Ensign. She was in regular use as a fishing boat until the 1960s when she was laid up.. As one of the few remaining traditionally built Jersey working boats. FIONA was given to the Jersey Museums Service in the late 1980s. Following a survey by the naval architect Alan Buchanan in 1987 she was restored to her former appearance as a gaff cutter by the Friends of the Maritime Museum and was re-launched in 1993 by Mrs Jo Vibert whose family had owned her for many years.In 2002 more work was done, her engine was replaced and a fore cuddy constructed to match the one she has in 1933. October 2007