It gives me great pleasure to announce the publication of a new booklet about Norfolk’s surviving trio of wherry yachts. The Norfolk and Suffolk Broads are home to over 1000 indigenous traditional sailing craft ranging in size from the 14ft Norfolk One Design Dinghies to the mighty Norfolk Wherries. The majority of these boats were either built or inspired by designs that were drafted in the first half of the 20th century including the sole surviving trio of wherry yachts Olive, Norada and White Moth. By a curious twist of fate these wherry yachts were all built by the Wroxham based boatbuilder and designer Ernest Collins. They spent over three decades within his hire fleet followed by a period of mixed fortunes in private ownership after the Second World War before they were reunited under the banner of the Wherry Yacht Charter Charitable Trust (WYCCT) in 2012.

The Trust very kindly invited me to write this booklet to help raise awareness of this trio’s rich heritage and raise much needed funds towards their on-going preservation. This 20 page booklet includes 25 colour images and 3 line drawings depicting the internal layout of each featured wherry yacht. Copies are available for £5 including postage and packing from The Friends of Wherry Yacht Charter. Cheques for this booklet should be made payable to Wherry Yacht Charter Charitable Trust and sent to:

Friends of Wherry Yacht Charter

c/o Mark Walters

25 Abinger Way

Norwich

NR4 6LJ

The booklet’s details are as follows:

Title: The Wherry Yachts – The last three survivors: Olive, Norada and White Moth

Publisher: Wherry Yacht Charter Charitable Trust

ISBN 978-0-9935619-0-0

RRP £5

20pp