Biggest wooden boat built on the Fylde for decades

David Moss, whose boatyard is on Skippool Creek in Thornton, has just finished building the largest all-wood boat to be created in the area for decades.

The 31ft Gaff Cutter sailing boat named Polly was launched at Mr Moss’s boatyard at Skippool Creek, Thornton, and was the culmination of more than five years work.

The boat received an early seal of approval when Princess Anne visited the yard three years ago and bestowed the name ‘Polly’ on the vessel.

Polly’s proud owner now plans to show the vessel at the Liverpool Boat Show next month.

Mr Moss, 69, said: “We had to relearn a lot of the old skills to build this boat.

“It started out as a scale model before being transferred to a drawing and now the boat is finished and launched.

“We were not working on the boat continuously because we had a lot of other projects at the same time.

“During the building, people have come and gone but they have all learned a lot of new skills as the work was completed.

“It was great to have finished Polly but we will all miss her once she is gone from the boatyard.”