Humber keel Daybreak has been made national flagship for the year by National Historic Ships UK.
The award goes to the owners of the vessel with the most impressive seasonal programme of public events in the forthcoming year and is designed to increase the public’s appreciation of historic vessels in the UK’s heritage.
The winning vessel receives a broad pennant to fly from its masthead wherever it goes, and a grant of £1000 towards the cost of keeping the vessel in operational condition and opening her for public viewing.
Daybreak is a 61-ft keel built by Richard Dunston of Thorne and launched in 1934, which makes her one of the last keels built. She was owned by Hanleys, a firm of Doncaster flour millers.
Motorised in the 1940s, she was restored to sail in 1986, and has been based on the River Thames for the last 38 years.
Daybreak’s has an extensive public programme for this year including festivals, barge matches, open days along the East Coast and a reconstructed trading voyage under sail from Hull to Doncaster.
Daybreak is on the National Register of Historic Vessels (NRHV) held by National Historic Ships UK.
The Scottish Fisheries Museum Boat Club’s extensive programme for the herring drifter Reaper from Anstruther to the Yorkshire coast caught the judges’ eye, and the organisation has been awarded runner-up, with a grant of £250.
