Luggers: why I find them a joy to sail

Clive Marsh

Prolific small boat owner Clive Marsh shares his experience of sailing Drascombe and Devon Luggers

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While renting a cottage at Flushing, west Cornwall, I got to sail Luggers for the first time.

The hired boat was kept on a swinging mooring in view of the lounge window and could be accessed at any state of the tide using the tender that came with the accommodation.

We were taking one of those short autumn breaks which are cold and rainy every day. But this didn’t put us off enjoying the Lugger.

At the time, I owned a fin-keeled Westerly yacht, and I was looking forward to the traditional simplicity that Luggers are famous for, like pulling up at the beach at St Mawes and going to the pub.

Boats sailing in a harbour

Negotiating the moored yachts at Falmouth under jib and mizzen. Credit: Clive Marsh

I also liked the idea of being able to row the boat when there was little wind and the engine was playing up.

As I clambered aboard from the tippy tender, it was noticeable how stable the Lugger was even before I lowered her heavy galvanised steel centreplate.

There was plenty of room in the cockpit for my family of four, much more space than there was in the cockpit of our Westerly yacht, in fact.

But what was particularly nice was being able to walk forward and let go from the mooring buoy in more safety than it would be on the deck of a small yacht.

It was all very convenient and simple and perfect for messing about in Falmouth Harbour.

Luggers are versatile craft

It was blowing a good Force 4-5, so I sailed off the mooring under just jib and mizzen.

This is a very handy and easily managed arrangement. I had the motor on tickover in neutral just in case while I manoeuvred through the moored yachts.

I didn’t put the main up that day and was happy just to potter around Falmouth Harbour in the rain and enjoy the few moments when the sun shone through.

During the course of our break, we tried every option the Lugger gave: rowing, motoring, motor-sailing, full rig, main only, jib and mizzen etc.

I decided there and then that I must have one of these versatile boats and within a few weeks became the owner of Lugworm, a Mk1 Lugger with a rope horse, named after the famous Drascombe Lugger sailed by Ken Duxbury on his many open sea passages.

I gave Lugworm a new name, Spray, as I like short names for my boats.

Three people sailing a Lugger with red sails

Drascombe Lugger at Salcombe; Luggers are ideal family boats. Credit: James Bell (PS)/Alamy

She was an early glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) boat on an old T-type trailer. The first thing I did was invest in a new swing-back trailer supplied by Drascombe.

This meant the total cost of the oldish boat and the new trailer came to £6,500, which was more than my old Westerly was worth.

Good dinghies and day boats may cost more than old small cruisers, but they save a lot in marina and haul-out charges.

Early Luggers have a simple steel tube as a horse for the mainsheet.

My old Lugger unusually had a rope horse which worked perfectly well. Later models have a mainsheet track.

The jib had roller furling and the mizzen was sheeted out to a long bumpkin which was great at sea but vulnerable in the rivers at close quarters when coming alongside etc.

Some owners have fitted a boom to their mizzen and done away with the bumkin, but I like bumkins which are simple and go with the style of a Lugger.

The mainsail had no boom, and I tried different sheeting positions. The only modification I made was to remove the roller furling jib for a simple hank-on jib because it is easy to just walk forward and handle the jib in an open boat.

The less string, the better for me. That’s a personal preference of mine, but most people like their roller furling jibs.

Trailer-sailing on luggers

I initially kept Spray on her nice new trailer and towed her to a variety of places on the South Coast.

Country bed and breakfasts a few miles from the coast are more likely to have space for you to keep the trailer.

Towing this new trailer that fitted the boat perfectly was a doddle. I did not need to immerse the ‘sealed for life’ type bearings, but the inevitable dunking did happen a few times on crowded slipways, and I discovered that I could not change the bearings on site like I could with my old tapered variety.

These sealed-for-life bearings needed a bench press in a garage. I had them checked at a garage, and, yes, one set had corroded.

Later, for another boat, I specified tapered bearings for a newly-built trailer. Again, this is a personal preference; some people prefer the sealed-for-life variety, but I like to be able to inspect and change my bearings at home on the drive.

Sea ready

After a while, I decided to antifoul Spray and keep her on a mooring at Rye. This worked very well; the Lugger has a well-fitting cockpit cover, which enables the rain to run onto the side benches and out through their scupper holes.

The cockpit was always dry. Sailing on the open sea under just jib and mizzen was a very pleasant experience, and Spray held her course without much help from me.

Under full sail, she romped along and was easy to sail single-handed.

A boat with red sails raised

Clive’s old Mk1 Lugger at Rye. Credit: Clive Marsh

The rudder arrangement takes a bit of getting used to. The heavy steel plate drops through a slot on deck. The weight of this plate adds to stability, but it is awkward to raise.

This made beaching the boat difficult, but I see that modern Luggers have alternative arrangements.

The oak tiller was attached to the rudder stock with a bolt, and this was a weak point. Mine broke off just as I entered the narrow River Rother from the sea, which made things a bit awkward.

My local blacksmith made me a steel tiller, which solved that little problem. Latter models have better arrangements.

The outboard motor fits into a very convenient well, and I always found a 4hp more than adequate, although the recommended power is 5-6hp.

There is a big difference in weight between a 4hp and a 5hp, which is why I prefer the lighter 4hp.

Rowing was surprisingly easy once the boat was moving. I once launched from a slip on the Percuil River, which is just up from St Mawes.

I noticed a bungalow for rent, which came with a later model Drascombe Lugger, and for several summer breaks, I rented it. This saved me 450 miles of towing, and it was nice trying out a newer Lugger with her many little improvements.

Names explained

The original Drascombe Luggers were built by Honnor Marine, but when this company ceased trading in the late 1990s, the moulds and the Drascombe name went their separate ways – the licence to use the Drascombe name to McNulty Boats in late 1997 and the original moulds to a new Honnor Marine company.

McNulty created new moulds taken from a set of original boats. When McNulty closed down in August 2002, it was taken over by Churchouse Boats (now called Drascombe Boats), which continues building to this day.

Honnor Marine is also still building Devon Luggers using the original Drascombe moulds.

So the two boats are much the same, and both current builders give useful advice and can help sailors to buy and sell their Lugger and provide spare parts.

To avoid confusion, I refer to the boats simply as Luggers – though to be pedantic, neither of these boats has a lug sail.

These Luggers must be one of the best and most versatile boats designed, which is why more than 2,000 have been built.

The Drascombe Association (www.drascombe-association.org.uk) produces a useful journal, has a forum, and provides advice, UK-based events and meetings arranged throughout the year.

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