The Ships'Leader', 'Provident' and 'Golden Vanity' were all built at the same shipyard in Galmpton Creek on the River Dart, in the parish of Brixham. They are Designated Vessels on the National Register of Historic Ships, and as such recognised as being of major national, and prime regional, importance. Designated Vessels rank just below the national Core Collection of vessels such as 'Victory' and 'Cutty Sark' in terms of significance.
‘Leader’ was built in 1892 as a sailing trawler. She displaces more than 100 tonnes and carries 3,250 sq ft of sail on a gaff ketch rig. ‘Provident'(built 1924) is another former sailing trawler. She displaces 80 tonnes and carries 2,750 sq ft of sail, also on a gaff ketch rig. ‘Golden Vanity’ (built1908) is built on the lines of a small working vessel, and is gaff cutter rigged, carrying 1,250 sq ft of sail. She displaces 20 tonnes. Brixham was the birthplace of the sailing trawler and of the deep-sea trawling industry. From early beginnings in the late 18th century the merits of the vessels developed by the fishermen and shipwrights of Torbay became more and more widely appreciated. By the middle of the 19th century the Brixham men had opened up new fishing grounds all round our coasts and the sailing trawler had become the standard vessel for deep-sea fishing throughout northern Europe. At one time there were several thousand in service. Ports such as Hull, Grimsby, Fleetwood, Lowestoft and Yarmouth owed their importance and affluence to the advent of trawling. Despite the advent of steam the last sailing trawlers were built in the 1920's and some continued fishing British waters until the outbreak of World War II.
In Scandinavia and the Faeroe Islands some continued even later, into the 1950's. The sailing trawler owed its success to a combination of streamlined underwater lines and a powerful gaff rig. For the first time sailing vessels were able to tow a sizeable trawl at sea in any conditions, and had the speed to get catches to market in good condition. Until then, deepwater fishing had been carried out by a process known as long-lining, whereby lines up to eight miles long carrying as many as 5,000 hooks - each individually baited with a whelk - were towed behind the fishing boat. It was no wonder that the sailing trawler made such a massive impact. By the second half of the 19th century major ports had fleets of between 500 and 800 each. In Brixham three classes of sailing trawler were built. 'Leader' is an example of the largest class, known as the Big Sloops (although they were ketch rigged). She fished British waters until 1907, when she was sold to new owners in Sweden. She remained on the west coast there, fishing, until 1953, and spent some time carrying cargoes in the Baltic before becoming a sail training vessel for the Swedish Cruising Club, based in Gothenburg. In 1985 she was brought back to Britain and spent 10 years on Scotland's west coast as Lorne Leader before being brought back to Devon in 1996. 'Provident' is of the medium-sized Mule class, and replaced an earlier vessel of the same name, sunk by a German U-boat during the first World War. Earlier in the war, the first Provident had famously rescued the 70 survivors from the torpedoed battleship HMS Formidable in a gale in the early hours of New Year's Day 1916.
It was a feat of seamanship that earned the crew an invitation to Buckingham Palace, and financial rewards from the public purse. After the war, skipper William Pillar had a replacement built. She fished until the mid-1930's, was converted to a yacht and then became the flagship of the Island Cruising Club at Salcombe in 1952. She stayed there, cruising and carrying out sail training, until joining Trinity in 1999. 'Golden Vanity' was built to the lines of the smallest class - known as 'Mumble Bees' - and served as a floating studio for the noted marine artist Arthur Briscoe. A regular visitor on board was Erskine Childers, author of the classic yachting novel 'Riddle of the Sands'. After the Second World War the boat had various owners and made several transatlantic crossings, but eventually became derelict, before being rescued and restored by a group of local people in Brixham. Trinity's little fleet is quite unique. Three sister ships, from the same yard. One example of each class of sailing trawler. All Designated Vessels on the Historic Ships Register. And, fortunately, all now in excellent condition and hopefully with a long and productive life ahead of them.
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