A Stone Brothers smack
PRISCILLA CK437 was built by Stone Brothers of Brightlingsea for Willie Barber, one of the yard’s earliest vessels. Colne Smack Preservation Society material gives 1893 as her construction year in its vessel summary, although another passage in its history gives 1890. The original build date remains uncertain because those two accounts disagree.
The society records her as one of the earliest survivors from Stone Brothers, whose Brightlingsea yard opened in 1890. Initially she measured about 31 feet to the rudder post and 36 feet on deck. Later lengthening brought those measurements to roughly 39 and 43 feet.
Fishing at West Mersea
PRISCILLA moved to a West Mersea owner in 1931. Her working life included oyster dredging and stowboating, in which a net was suspended beneath an anchored vessel to catch fish such as sprats. Those were different fishing methods, although both relied on a boat capable of working the estuary.
Registrations and the end of work
Her original registration was CK437; in 1970 the number changed to MN76. The society records the end of her commercial working career in 1975. Eddie Caswell owned her between 1979 and 1984, a period in which ferro-concrete sheathing was applied to her hull in 1981 to extend her life.
Restoration and racing
PRISCILLA later returned to the sailing-smack circuit. She received the Charles Morse Trophy for best restoration in 2017 and the Jim Spencer Cup as second small smack in 2018, 2020 and 2021. The 2019 results record the Vernon Scott Trophy for last smack home.
Vessel history
Colne Smack Preservation Society: PRISCILLA · Restoration trophy records. See the wider history of Mersea smacks.