£250k bid to see iconic tall ship sail again

A BID to save Gloucester tall ship the Kathleen and May by raising more than £250,000 for urgent repairs has been launched.

- CARMELO GARCIA Local Democracy Reporter

The 125-year-old coastal schooner is currently laid up in The Docks and there are plans afoot to stabilise its structure.

It is the last working three mast, wooden hull topsail schooner and the only one of her class still in operation.

And the Kathleen and May Community Interest Company (CIC) was formed last year with the aim to acquire and preserve the vessel.

They are organising a 100-day fundraising appeal to raise £258,678 to pay for urgent works at world leading traditional ship restoration specialists T. Nielsen and Co.

Their long-term aim is to restore the ship, which was designated as a national treasure by the Arts Council in 2011, to be able to sail again.

David Morgan, President of the Maritime Heritage Trust and a former Deputy Chair of the Maritime Trust said: “The Kathleen and May was the first major vessel saved by the Maritime Trust in 1970 and her historical significance to the Nation is paramount”

Upon the success of the campaign, the custodianship of the vessel would transfer from the Clarke family of Bideford to the Kathleen and May CIC.