DISCOVER Living Heritage With Excelsior
One of the UK’s most historic vessels, Excelsior LT472 is a traditional Lowestoft fishing smack, built more than a century ago and now offering sailing days and adventures for all.
The Excelsior Trust is a charitable organisation that provides life changing sailing experiences for young and disadvantaged people, schools and corporate groups as well as unique sailing opportunities for individuals, all whilst preserving and maintaining one of the UK’s most historic ships. Our mission is to not only preserve Excelsior but also to restore other historic fishing vessels from the East Coast.
"Fantastic Experience"
This summer you can find us at Lowestoft’s Heritage Quay and explore Excelsior. You can even book a Heritage Sailing Experience Day and take a hand at sailing this historic wooden ship. See our Booking page for details of Experience Days and Voyages.
If you have a group or organisation who would like to sail for a day, email us at sailing@excelsiortrust.co.uk to find out more.
Bursaries and support are available for many Under 24 groups.
Excelsior had a long period of maintenance this winter as we got her ready for important certification and made sure she was in top condition ready for her centenary year! Her masts were taken out and checked over, her rigging was taken down and she is now awaiting her 5 year survey.
After her long-serving stove 'Deirdre' grew ever more unreliable, we were finally able to invest in a replacement which will be installed before we sail this summer.
We couldn’t have done any of this without the continued support of our generous donors throughout the past year.
Our plans for 2024 include taking part in the Tall Ships Race in the Baltic from July, but prior to that we have an exciting programme of adventures and sail training trips to develop skills for the novice and the seasoned sailors.
Our voyages will be available to schools and youth organisations, Duke of Edinburgh’s Award participants and there will also be opportunities for individuals to sail on stretches too! Please contact us for more information.
Registered Charity Number 285899. Company 01670772 Limited by Guarantee