Help save Felicity, the Last Hastings Lugger.

Aim

We are raising £5,000 to save Felicity (RX58) — the last wooden fishing boat to work from Hastings beach.

The Old Hastings Preservation Society, The Fishermen’s Museum, and volunteer group Hastings Wooden Boats want to save retired fishing boat RX58 Felicity — the last wooden fishing boat to work from Hastings beach. We want to put her on display near the Fishermen’s Museum, keeping her heritage afloat for all time.

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 for many centuries. She is the last of her line in so many ways.

Now Felicity faces an uncertain future. It has been proposed to turn her into an ornamental building for a private garden. This would mean losing a remarkable working boat and an irreplaceable part of our maritime heritage.

Hastings Fishermen’s Museum and volunteer group Hastings Wooden Boats want to secure Felicity for display near the Museum, where she can remain 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 purchase, preparation for display, and the start of a long-term maintenance programme. 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 by 2nd October 2026 at 6:35pm