Scale: 1:24. A contemporary waterline model of a Yarmouth drifter (1880) set in a scenic baseboard. The hull has been carved from a solid block and is fully rigged, equipped and shows the vessel lying too. On deck is a large hand-operated capstan, with foot grips secured to the deck whilst along the gunwales are several large metal irons in which are kept spare spars and oars. On either side of the mainmast are the pens with ramps for sorting the catch before it is sent down into the hold to be packed on ice.

By the 1870s the two-masted Yarmouth luggers had reached a state of near perfection for the catching of herring with drift nets. As railway services throughout Great Britain improved however, they were able to transport fish overnight to inland towns and villages thereby creating an ever-increasing demand. To meet this demand many herring drifters turned to trawling when the season was over and at first they used the traditional lug rig used for drifting. Brixham trawlers were already fishing in the North Sea and their gaff-rigged vessels had demonstrated that they were more suitable for towing trawling nets. As a result, the east coast luggers began to rig a gaff mainsail, but retained the original mizzen lugsails.

This model shows a Yarmouth drifter rigged in this fashion. In due course the transitional rig was abandoned, and the mizzenmast was also gaff-rigged, or ‘dandy’-rigged, as it later became known. Even though there is a port registration letter ‘YH6’ on either bow, it has not been possible to link this with a particular vessel.