Britannia’s Restoration Timeline

1996 – Britannia Sold by the Samuels

In 1996, Sam and Vicki Samuels parted ways with Britannia after a 23 year ownership, raising their family on board. and then operating her as a successful charter business for 10 years.

2007 – Purchased by Trinity Sailing Trust

After changing hands several times, Britannia was donated to Trinity Sailing Trust who operated her as a sail training vessel, refitting her and making many modifications to the vessel to suit their purposes, such as converting her from tiller to wheel steering.

2013 – A Sighting and then a Voyage to the Helford

In 2013, Sam and Vicki Samuels’ son happened to catch a glimpse of Britannia on a mooring in Brixham. She had fallen into a very bad state of disrepair, having been used as a floating mooring for other vessels, and was not being operated or maintained.

The Samuels made the decision to put their lives on hold in order to save Britannia by whatever means necessary. In September 2013 they arranged a crew of friends to sail Britannia (a hair-raising voyage!) from Brixham to Gweek Boatyard at the head of the Helford River, where she was hauled out, covered and stablised.

2014 – Britannia Sailing Trust Formed

The Samuels got into contact with friends and people who had sailed on Britannia during the 70s, 80s and 90s, explaining the situation. Many of them had fond memories and formative experiences. Britannia Sailing Trust was formed from among these contacts, with the goal of acquiring the ship, fundraising, restoring her and getting her back to working at sea.

The first hurdle was the purchase. After some back-and-forth, the newly-formed charitable Trust was able to buy Britannia, in her decomissioned and unsailable state, for the sum of £1. The next problem became how and where to restore her.

2017 – Raising Funds

The Trust originally intended to work on her in the yard at Gweek a first attempt to raise significant funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund was turned down so the Trust later made the decision to bring her further inland – closer to the Samuels’ home and easier to work on, particularly as we had no funds to pay anyone, so Sam had to do it alone.

In a memorable operation, in December, Britannia was lorried 95 miles overland to the village of Winkleigh, where she was positioned in a field next to a commercial garage where she would stay for the next 7 years.

2018 – The Big Tent

The challenges were far from over. Before work could start on the ship, the first task was designing and constructing an enormous tent to serve as a workshop and provide protection for the ship from the elements.

Sun and rain can quickly degrade a sailing ship out of the water, thus getting her quickly under cover was imperative.

Sam Samuels designed the tent, which was constructed of heavy duty translucent tarpaulin stretched over a wood and plywood frame. It was longer and wider than the ship and even featured a mezzanine level, accessible by ladders and stairs, that provided access to the deck and additional storage. We raised over £5,000 in our first charity crowdfunder to help to raise the roof and organised a team of about 25 people to manually haul the roof up and secure it. The tent/shed remained intact throughout 7 seasons of wind and weather.

The Trust began looking for local volunteers to help work on the restoration.

2018 – Momentum

Bit by bit, people were drawn to the project and Britannia gained a small team of locals – mainly elderly local men retired from practical trades.

Around this time, she was featured in a BBC spotlight segment, highlighting the project.

2019 – Setbacks

As work began on the ship, it became clear that the damage from neglect was much worse than anyone could have guessed. Freshwater, leaking through the new, but improperly fitted deck installed by previous owners, had rotted the tops of many of the frames, especially at the bow end of the ship.

The stern was also in extremely poor shape, with massive rot pockets discovered under the decking.

It became clear that the Trust would need more funding than it had in order to tackle the restoration.

2020 – Covid

When the Covid 19 pandemic reached the UK, the bans on public gatherings meant that the volunteer team had to be disbanded. Without funding and without volunteers, the project stalled and Britannia was at risk of languishing and backsliding. But a week before lockdown in March, with the last £6000 left in the bank, enough timber was purchased at a sale in Exeter and transported to the site, enabling Sam to carry on working, but on his own. It was during this time that he rebuilt the stern having to laminate together the oak for the stanchions as it was impossible to source grown oak crooks.

Thankfully, between November and March 2021, a grant from the Government Culture Recovery Fund meant that the Trust was able to hire three boatbuilders and two trainees to keep the restoration going. The team was able to function in a ‘boatbuilders’ bubble’, living and working near the ship.

Over the course of that Autumn and Winter, they worked to remove sections of planking from the bow, which was the only way to access some of the damaged oak frames in order to sister and repair them properly, and to refit the stem.

It was a scary time, with planks off and much of the vessel’s interior exposed.

Wood was purchased for new planking and frames and a timber storage area was constructed to one side of the tent.

A 32 foot long steam chest was also constructed to the rear of the tent, allowing the long replacement larch planks to be steamed and made flexible before bending them around the shape of the hull.

2021-2022 – Lottery to the Rescue

In September 2021 Britannia was granted a significant sum by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, enabling the restoration to move forwards at a much faster pace, and to hold more community events and to begin a digital presence with a new website, and social media platforms

As Covid restrictions started to ease we welcomed back the volunteers and were able to employ another shipwright to help Sam and we had sufficient funds to take on two paid young boatbuilding trainees.

2023 – Relaunch!

On the 23rd September, 2023, Britannia was relaunched. Having been transported by road (again) to Exeter, she was relauched in a public ceremony with the support of Exeter Heritage Harbour.

The tent in Winkleigh was deconstructed and many local residents were sad to see the ship go, but happy that she was moving on to the next part of her journey

2024 – Afloat Again

2024 was a year of transition as work commenced in Exeter, starting with the construction of a new tent to keep the freshwater off Britannia’s deck and a new workshop on the quayside.

Refit work commenced down below, making new floors to replace the ‘temporary’ pieces of plywood that had, by this point, served for many years.

2025 – Out Again

A leak was discovered below the waterline, which meant Britannia had to be hauled out again. The team quickly identified the source of the leak – a small section of caulking that had been missed by volunteers!

It was an easy fix and the team took the opportunity to repaint Britannia – cream topsides for the first time in 111 years. This decision was made to help alleviate the effects of sitting alongside in the warm summer sun, which is not good for Britannia’s planking. Once she is sailing again, she may well be repainted in her traditional working black.

Work continued on the rest of the vessel, focussing on deck, spars and interior fit-out.

This year was also a milestone for the Britannia Wood project, in partnership with the National Trust. Planting began in the autumn – a mix of native trees.

2026 – Making Waves

The Trust was honoured to received a second grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, funding the project phase that will see her through to sea trials.

We are very excited for what the next two years will bring, as we take on more volunteers and trainees, get the mast up and the ship rerigged, as well as completing her interior fit-out.

A huge thank you to National Lottery players for making this possible!

Read more about our recent grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund here…

What The Future Holds…

2028 – Fair Winds and Following Seas

If everything goes well and there are no unexpected delays, it is possible Britannia may be sailing again by 2028.

From this point forwards the Trust will be commencing sail training and commercial operations, getting Britannia working again and getting people on board to experience traditional sailing.

We will continue our volunteer and traineeship scheme, both at sea and during winter maintenance periods, ensuring we are keeping skills alive.