Always on
This project successfully funded on 2nd October 2026, you can still support them with a donation.
Help save Felicity, the Last Hastings Lugger.
Hastings, East Sussex, United Kingdom
Aim
We have successfully raised £5,000 to save Felicity (RX58) — the last wooden fishing boat to work from Hastings beach. The work carries on!
Sincere thanks to everyone who contributed to reaching our target of £5,000 to save Felicity.
Of course the work carries on! This page will remain active for donations which will help fund the display and restoration of Felicity and her sisters at the Hastings Fishermen's Museum.
Arrangements are being made with contractors to lift Felicity into the space opposite the Dolphin pub and plans made for the initial modifications and repairs needed both to ensure public safety and her long term preservation in the best possible shape.
The Old Hastings Preservation Society, The Fishermen’s Museum, and volunteer group Hastings Wooden Boats have worked together to save retired fishing boat RX58 Felicity — the last wooden fishing boat to work from Hastings beach and an irreplaceable part of our maritime heritage.
Clinker built in 1980 by H J Phillips Boatbuilders in Rye and originally named Our Pam & Peter, her construction was the subject of a TV documentary. She is called a 'lugger' somewhat poetically as while her hull was built in the tradition of the sailing luggers of old although she has always been engine powered. For many years she was worked by the brothers who own her, carrying forward Hastings’ proud beach-fishing tradition. When she ceased work and was deregistered two years ago, it was the end of an era stretching back centuries. She is the last of her line in so many ways.
Felicity's future is now far more certain. Putting her on display in Hastings' iconic maritime quarter will keep her heritage afloat for all time - a proud reminder of the town’s ancient working maritime tradition.
Hastings fishing fleet faces many challenges. High sea water temperatures have particularly noticeable this summer, causing commercially important cold water species to migrate north. Preserving Felicity for display adds to the attractiveness of the town's iconic maritime heritage quarter, a key tourist attraction, providing some economic counterbalance to the effects of a changing climate.
Your donation will help cover the preparations necessary for her display, and the foundation of a long-term programme embracing maintenance and restoration, which will additionally benefit the museum's outdoor exhibits, provide opportunities for volunteers, and contribute to the regeneration of the locality.
Every contribution brings us closer to keeping this beautiful vessel intact, in Hastings, for the wonder and inspiration of future generations.
Please help us give Felicity the future she deserves.
Funding method
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made