More than 100 traditional boats made their way to Plymouth last weekend for what organisers are hailing the best Sutton Harbour Classic Boat Rally ever.

The rally, which is part of the Sutton Harbour Festival, featured many fine vessels including the 96-foot two-masted topsail schooner Johanna Lucretia, the Tamar sailing barge Shamrock, from the National Trust’s Cotehele estate and Spirit of Mystery, the replica Cornish lugger in which Pete Goss completed a re-enactment of an 11,800-mile journey from Cornwall to Australia last year.

For the first time this year there was also a shoreside boatshow with over 40 stalls from local boatyards and marine suppliers, marine artists, traditional crafts and marine book sellers, together with the RNLI and Royal National Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen.

Monday’s Parade of Sail was a spectacular end to the Classic Boat Rally and drew crowds of onlookers as the vessels set sail from Sutton Harbour marking the end an outstanding weekend of events both at sea and alongside.

Nigel Godefroy, chief executive of the Sutton Harbour Group, said: “There’s nothing quite like the sight of these magnificent vessels under sail and set against the wonderful backdrop of Sutton Harbour and the Hoe. We were blessed with fantastic weather which made for lots of spectators, a great atmosphere and a truly special finale for this year’s Sutton Harbour Classic Rally, which I’m delighted to say has been a real success”