The Cornish lugger IBIS (FY 519) was built in 1930 by Percy Mitchell, of Portmellon, near Mevagissey, for the two Lakeman brothers. Her hull was of pitch pine planking on oak frames. 

 

She had two 7hp Kelvin petrol/paraffin engines and the traditional dipping lug on the mainmast with a standing lug on the mizzen. She fished for pilchards with drift nets and also used long lines (with numerous hooks attached) in the Channel during the winter to catch turbot, ling, conger and ray. She was for many years the largest lugger to work from Mevagissey and was the first to go to sea on Sundays. In 1960 the Lakeman family sold her to an owner at Newlyn to continue fishing. By the mid-1960s she was sold again and worked as a crabber out of Salcombe, Dartmouth and Plymouth. In 1970 Robert Gavin found IBIS at Weymouth and had her refitted by Philip’s at Galmpton, on the River Dart. Herbie Uren bought her in 1975 and fished for mackerel and crabs out of Porthleven in West Cornwall. In 1978 she was sold again and given a full refit, including a new engine. She was then used to fish for mackerel, shark angling and trawling out of Looe until the mid 1980s, and in 1989 was restored to sail with the traditional lugger rig.

 

She was sold to a Brixham owner in 2002 and was then based at Dartmouth. Although major work has been done on her hull, decks and masts to keep her seaworthy she is said to remain at least 80% original.

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IBIS FY519, was constructed by Percy Mitchell, a self-taught naval architect and respected boatbuilder, in a traditional fishing boat style using pitch pine on grown oak frames.  At build, she was one of the largest fishing boats in Mevagissey and one of the first to have engines being fitted with a Rustin and a Kelvin.  She was tight planked with no caulking between the seams which was innovative for the time and is one of the reasons her hull has survived.  IBIS was rigged with a lug foremast and boom mizzen.  Eighteen months later, a wheelhouse was fitted, the tiller was replaced with chain steering, her foremast was replaced with a lighter spar and a tabernacle was also added.  Her planking, keel and garboards were original, although replaced during conservation work. Her hull form remains intact, as does her lug rig and she retains her deep cargo hold.  There have been minor adaptations to the vessel’s fabric in the past, such as the introduction of a steering cabin, which was then removed to return IBIS as closely as possible to her original specification.  Maintenance work and changes over the years include the installation of a new plywood deck on canvas sheathing which was also removed to reinstate a traditional deck more in keeping with the original construction.  Her original engines have not survived, with IBIS being fitted with 29 different engines during her life, the latest being a Yanmar 57hp, modern engine with very clean emissions. 

 

Percy Mitchell was one of the best known and most respected Cornish boatbuilders of his era. IBIS was his first major commission and her build is described in his autobiography A Boatbuilder’s Story.  She was built for the Lakemans - a fishing family from Mevagissey - and has strong regional associations to the fishing and traditional boat community across Cornwall.  As one of the biggest luggers working from Mevagissey, her catch numbers were legendary and IBIS is the holder of two fishing records.   She has spent her entire life in the West Country, first working out of Mevagissey, then Mousehole and Newlyn, before moving to Salcombe, Dartmouth and Plymouth.  She has the distinction of being one of the last working luggers to operate out of Looe in the 1980s and, in 1990, the Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) granted her the honour of becoming a ‘historic fishing vessel’, allowing her to wear her (defaced) registration numbers and letters with pride. 

 

During the Second World War, IBIS was shot by a German bomber which is believed to have inspired the fictitious novel Evening Star, written by Ken Sherwood of Mevagissey.  IBIS has taken part in the famous Looe Lugger Regatta which was re-instated by the Cornish Lugger Association as a bi-annual event in the 1990s.  Unfortunately, her original lines drawings do not survive, but her build is well described in Percy Mitchell’s book, along with images of her under construction.  The sign of Percy Mitchell’s Boatyard still hangs on the wall of the cottages that took its place at Port Mellon.  IBIS has been listed on the National Register of Historic Vessels since 2007.

 

IBIS was built to work as a fishing boat with a deep cargo hold to store catches of pilchards, herring and turbot whilst returning them to harbour. Constructed as a motor boat, she has a different form to earlier fishing luggers which had finer lines aft.  IBIS retains her shape and the distinctive lug rig which is aesthetically pleasing, particularly when seen sailing in her native Cornish waters. 

 

Since Lynher CIC took over the ownership of IBIS, and extensive restoration work sponsored by the Heritage Lottery Fund has taken place between July 2022 and September 2025. 80% of her planking and 60% of her frames were replaced and, were possible, repaired. Her bilges now hold 5 tons of concrete mixed with pig iron shots and covered by lead ballast in shape of custom made ingots and lead shot bags all secured by 18mm galvanised wire. A new, traditional deck has been laid and a new, low profile cabin top with a cargo hatch, a fore hatch, a companionway and aft hatch are in place, the latter giving access to the navigation area. IBIS foremast is new and made out of a 43ft Douglas Fir sourced from a renewable forest in Scotland. Her other spars were recycled were possible or new ones made for the fore and mizzen yards. The outrigger is original and the boom is a new spar. New sails were cut by traditional sailmaker Patrick Seaman of Falmouth and other, older sails were recycled and repaired. Her running and standing rigging has been completely renewed.

 

Throughout the restoration process surveyor Will Copeland was tasked to follow the work and provide any advice related to the MCA coding requirements. 

 

In September 2024, following some successful sea trials, IBIS sailed to Roscoff and back to Plymouth proving her seaworthiness. Further detailed work has been carried out through the winter of 2024-25 to allow for a comfortable fit out on the interior and with respect to Solas B coding requirements. 

 

Sources:

‘A Boatbuilder Story’ 1968 Percy Mitchell. Published by Kingston. Mevagissey. Cornwall

 

Author:

 

Barbara Bridgman

28/03/2025