Launch of boat that woman built without any drawings.

AN HISTORIC vessel was celebrated in a traditional seafaring ceremony in Lyme Regis.

The lerret called Little Sea, which was built by Gail McGarva, was launched on July 31.

The launch of the double-ended clinker vessel, originating from 1682, was part of the

RNLI Lifeboat Week festivities highlighting its role as a life-boat when the institution was first established.

Miss McGarva, who built the boat without any designer drawings, said: “This build preserves the lineage of the lerrets, breathing life into a new generation of this unique craft.”

Last year, Gail’s Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST) scholarship of �13,500 was awarded to build, by eye, a boat of historical importance to Dorset.

As part of the ceremony, a procession of boat bearers carried the new lerret from the Boat Building Academy to Lyme Regis harbour where she joined her ‘mother’ boat, Vera.

The two vessels were later released into the historic harbour escorted by Lyme’s two Cornish Pilot gigs.

A spokesperson for QEST, who attended the event, said: “It went extremely well and it was a really happy day because all the people from the boat academy were there.”