Nobby (boat)
Encyclopedia
The nobby is an an inshore sailing boat which was used as a traditional fishing boat around Lancashire
and Manx
. The Lancashire nobby originated in Morecambe Bay
about 1840 and around Southport
. It subsequently came into widespread use down the north west coast of England
. The Manx nobby first appeared in the 1880s and was used around the Isle of Man
. Many localities on the coast of Great Britain
developed their own type of fishing boat adapted to local fishing
and sea conditions, and the nobbies are examples of this.
sized for common brown shrimp (Crangon Vulgaris), pink shrimp (Pandalus montagui or Aesop prawn), or flatfish
. The nobby ranged in size from about 25 to 32 ft (7.6 to 9.8 ) for single-handed boats and from 36 to 45 ft (11 to 13.7 ) for two-man boats. They were all pole masted
cutters with gaff
topsail
.
In the north west of England the Morecambe Bay
nobby emerged about 1840 as the local type. Houldsworth illustrated them as a sloop
rigged craft with a square tuck stern
A report in the Lancaster Gazette of 7 November 1840 indicates that Southport
smacks
were also fishing in Morecambe Bay, providing another progenitor of the nobby.
The design evolved from earlier straight-stemmed, long-keel boats into a beamy shallow hull with a pronounced reverse curve in the midship section and a cut away forefoot. The square tuck stern changed into an immersed elliptical counter, either by evolution or adoption of the Soutport form, the change being complete before 1880. All of the boats had wide side decks and a long cockpit, about a third of the beam in width, with low freeboard and a low rail to facilitate lifting the gear on board. These shrimp boats, about 32 ft (9.8 m), were fast and handy in the shallow waters of Morecambe Bay. The larger boats were called “prawners”, though they were actually used to catch pink shrimps (Pandalus montagui). In addition to the larger prawner (called "sprawner" at Morecambe) a subtype called "bay boat" developed for the holiday trade. The bay boat had a shallow draft so it could operate around Grange-over-Sands
at the head of Morecambe Bay.
Crossfields of Arnside
were the most prolific builders with two yards working. Later branches of the family started yards at Conway
and took over a yard at Hoylake
. Many were constructed by Gibson at Fleetwood
, later taken over by Liver and Wilding. In particular, William Stoba (1855–1931), a foreman shipwright with Fleetwood builders, developed the design and experimented with centreboards. Other builders were working at Annan
, Millom
, Crossens
and Marshside
near Southport
.
The type was adopted by fishermen from the Solway
down to Cardigan Bay
, and hundreds of nobbies were built. The demand for boats was driven by the English taste for shrimps, which in its turn was driven by the English sea side holiday trade, which came to prominence with the railways in the 1850s. There was no standard design of nobby, alterations were made to suit the ideas of the original owners. Three racing classes, the Royal Mersey Restricted class, the Royal Mersey Rivers class and the Fleetwood Jewel Class, were built on nobby lines by various local boat builders. The difference between these was that the Royal Mersey Restricted class and the Fleetwood Jewels Class were cutter rigged same as a Nobby and the Royal Mersey Rivers Class had a single headsail.
It is important to understand that the two types (Manx and Lancashire) are completely different. The shrimping boats (Morecambe Bay, Liverpool etc.) are shallow draught vessels [typically 3 to 4.5 ft (0.9144 to 1.4 )] designed to trawl in the shoal waters of the Solway Firth, Morecambe Bay etc.
In contrast, the Manx Nobby is a herring lugger, a deep-water vessel typically drawing 6 ft (1.8 m) and built to lie to nets in deep water while drift net fishing for herring and mackerel.
The Manx Nobby is similar to the cornish luggers.
Over the last 20 years the Nobby Owners Association has restored to sail some 20 nobbies, which are basically Morecambe Bay inshore sail fishing boats, associated with the North West coast of England and which evolved to their present graceful form through the 19th century.
nobby was a double ended standing lug
rigged herring
drifter
. It was preceded by the "nickey", which had a dipping lug rigging. Standing lugs have yards
that remain on one side of the mast
and the tack
is set close to the mast, while dipping lugs have yards that dip around the mast when going about so that the sail draws away from the mast on each tack. The Nickeys were copies of Cornish
herring drifters that visited Man. The Manx Nickey was so called as Nicholas was a common Christian name amongst the Cornish crews whose boats they copied. The change to standing lug was driven by a shortage of experienced crew. This type of craft was then commissioned by The Congested Districts Board to provide a decked fishing craft to be used in Connemara
, Ireland
in the 1890s.
The vocabulary of the Anglo-Manx dialect quotes the first Manx
nobby in 1884 receiving its name because it was “a rale nobby little thing”. Other nobbies may have received their name in the same way, as smart sail fishing boats.
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
and Manx
Manx
Manx is an adjective describing things or people related to the Isle of Man:* Manx people**Manx surnames* Isle of ManIt may also refer to:-Languages:...
. The Lancashire nobby originated in Morecambe Bay
Morecambe Bay
Morecambe Bay is a large bay in northwest England, nearly due east of the Isle of Man and just to the south of the Lake District National Park. It is the largest expanse of intertidal mudflats and sand in the United Kingdom, covering a total area of 310 km².-Natural features:The rivers Leven,...
about 1840 and around Southport
Southport
Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. During the 2001 census Southport was recorded as having a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England...
. It subsequently came into widespread use down the north west coast of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The Manx nobby first appeared in the 1880s and was used around the Isle of Man
Isle of Man
The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...
. Many localities on the coast of Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
developed their own type of fishing boat adapted to local fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
and sea conditions, and the nobbies are examples of this.
Lancashire nobby
The Lancashire nobby was primarily a shrimp trawler towing beam trawlsTrawling
Trawling is a method of fishing that involves pulling a fishing net through the water behind one or more boats. The net that is used for trawling is called a trawl....
sized for common brown shrimp (Crangon Vulgaris), pink shrimp (Pandalus montagui or Aesop prawn), or flatfish
Flatfish
The flatfish are an order of ray-finned fish, also called the Heterosomata, sometimes classified as a suborder of Perciformes. In many species, both eyes lie on one side of the head, one or the other migrating through and around the head during development...
. The nobby ranged in size from about 25 to 32 ft (7.6 to 9.8 ) for single-handed boats and from 36 to 45 ft (11 to 13.7 ) for two-man boats. They were all pole masted
Mast (sailing)
The mast of a sailing vessel is a tall, vertical, or near vertical, spar, or arrangement of spars, which supports the sails. Large ships have several masts, with the size and configuration depending on the style of ship...
cutters with gaff
Gaff rig
Gaff rig is a sailing rig in which the sail is four-cornered, fore-and-aft rigged, controlled at its peak and, usually, its entire head by a spar called the gaff...
topsail
Topsail
A topsail is a sail set above another sail; on square-rigged vessels further sails may be set above topsails.- Square rig :On a square rigged vessel, a topsail is a square sail rigged above the course sail and below the topgallant sail where carried...
.
In the north west of England the Morecambe Bay
Morecambe Bay
Morecambe Bay is a large bay in northwest England, nearly due east of the Isle of Man and just to the south of the Lake District National Park. It is the largest expanse of intertidal mudflats and sand in the United Kingdom, covering a total area of 310 km².-Natural features:The rivers Leven,...
nobby emerged about 1840 as the local type. Houldsworth illustrated them as a sloop
Sloop
A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....
rigged craft with a square tuck stern
Stern
The stern is the rear or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite of the bow, the foremost part of a ship. Originally, the term only referred to the aft port section...
A report in the Lancaster Gazette of 7 November 1840 indicates that Southport
Southport
Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. During the 2001 census Southport was recorded as having a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England...
smacks
Smack (ship)
A smack was a traditional fishing boat used off the coast of England and the Atlantic coast of America for most of the 19th century, and even in small numbers up to the Second World War. It was originally a cutter rigged sailing boat until about 1865, when the smacks became so large that cutter...
were also fishing in Morecambe Bay, providing another progenitor of the nobby.
The design evolved from earlier straight-stemmed, long-keel boats into a beamy shallow hull with a pronounced reverse curve in the midship section and a cut away forefoot. The square tuck stern changed into an immersed elliptical counter, either by evolution or adoption of the Soutport form, the change being complete before 1880. All of the boats had wide side decks and a long cockpit, about a third of the beam in width, with low freeboard and a low rail to facilitate lifting the gear on board. These shrimp boats, about 32 ft (9.8 m), were fast and handy in the shallow waters of Morecambe Bay. The larger boats were called “prawners”, though they were actually used to catch pink shrimps (Pandalus montagui). In addition to the larger prawner (called "sprawner" at Morecambe) a subtype called "bay boat" developed for the holiday trade. The bay boat had a shallow draft so it could operate around Grange-over-Sands
Grange-over-Sands
Grange-over-Sands is a town and civil parish by the sea – with a wide tidal range, hence the "sands" name – in Cumbria, England. Historically, Grange-over-Sands was part of the County of Lancashire until 1974, when Cumbria was created under Local Government re-organisation which absorbed the area...
at the head of Morecambe Bay.
Crossfields of Arnside
Arnside
Arnside is a village and civil parish in Cumbria, England. It faces the estuary of the River Kent on the north eastern corner of Morecambe Bay, within the Arnside and Silverdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty...
were the most prolific builders with two yards working. Later branches of the family started yards at Conway
Conwy
Conwy is a walled market town and community in Conwy County Borough on the north coast of Wales. The town, which faces Deganwy across the River Conwy, formerly lay in Gwynedd and prior to that in Caernarfonshire. Conwy has a population of 14,208...
and took over a yard at Hoylake
Hoylake
Hoylake is a seaside town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, on Merseyside, England. It is located at the north western corner of the Wirral Peninsula, near to the town of West Kirby and where the River Dee estuary meets the Irish Sea...
. Many were constructed by Gibson at Fleetwood
Fleetwood
Fleetwood is a town within the Wyre district of Lancashire, England, lying at the northwest corner of the Fylde. It had a population of 26,840 people at the 2001 Census. It forms part of the Greater Blackpool conurbation. The town was the first planned community of the Victorian era...
, later taken over by Liver and Wilding. In particular, William Stoba (1855–1931), a foreman shipwright with Fleetwood builders, developed the design and experimented with centreboards. Other builders were working at Annan
Annan, Dumfries and Galloway
The royal burgh of Annan is a well-built town, red sandstone being the material mainly used. Each year in July, Annan celebrates the Royal Charter and the boundaries of the Royal Burgh are confirmed when a mounted cavalcade undertakes the Riding of the Marches. Entertainment includes a...
, Millom
Millom
Millom is a town and civil parish on the estuary of the River Duddon in the southwest of Cumbria, England. The name is Cumbrian dialect for "At the mills". The town is accessible both by rail and an A class road...
, Crossens
Crossens
Crossens is the northernmost district of the town of Southport, Merseyside, England and part of the ancient parish of North Meols. Whilst most of the village is now within Merseyside, part of northern Crossens known as Fiddlers Ferry, is in West Lancashire...
and Marshside
Marshside
Marshside is the name of the following places:* Marshside, Cumbria, England* Marshside, Kent, England* Marshside, Merseyside, England* Marsh Side, Norfolk, England...
near Southport
Southport
Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. During the 2001 census Southport was recorded as having a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England...
.
The type was adopted by fishermen from the Solway
Solway
-Places:New Zealand*Solway, New Zealand, a suburb of MastertonUnited Kingdom*Solway Firth, the inlet between the north west of England and southern Scotland*Solway Moss, lowland peat bog in Cumbria, England, near the Scottish border...
down to Cardigan Bay
Cardigan Bay
Cardigan Bay is a large inlet of the Irish Sea, indenting the west coast of Wales between Bardsey Island, Gwynedd in the north, and Strumble Head, Pembrokeshire at its southern end. It is the largest bay in Wales....
, and hundreds of nobbies were built. The demand for boats was driven by the English taste for shrimps, which in its turn was driven by the English sea side holiday trade, which came to prominence with the railways in the 1850s. There was no standard design of nobby, alterations were made to suit the ideas of the original owners. Three racing classes, the Royal Mersey Restricted class, the Royal Mersey Rivers class and the Fleetwood Jewel Class, were built on nobby lines by various local boat builders. The difference between these was that the Royal Mersey Restricted class and the Fleetwood Jewels Class were cutter rigged same as a Nobby and the Royal Mersey Rivers Class had a single headsail.
It is important to understand that the two types (Manx and Lancashire) are completely different. The shrimping boats (Morecambe Bay, Liverpool etc.) are shallow draught vessels [typically 3 to 4.5 ft (0.9144 to 1.4 )] designed to trawl in the shoal waters of the Solway Firth, Morecambe Bay etc.
In contrast, the Manx Nobby is a herring lugger, a deep-water vessel typically drawing 6 ft (1.8 m) and built to lie to nets in deep water while drift net fishing for herring and mackerel.
The Manx Nobby is similar to the cornish luggers.
Period of decline
At other nobby ports the changing economics of fishing with engines meant that fewer new nobbys were built, so that most of the nobby builders retired from trade during the Second World war. The nobbies went into gradual decline, and were eventually sold cheaply and converted to yachtsOver the last 20 years the Nobby Owners Association has restored to sail some 20 nobbies, which are basically Morecambe Bay inshore sail fishing boats, associated with the North West coast of England and which evolved to their present graceful form through the 19th century.
Manx nobby
The ManxIsle of Man
The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...
nobby was a double ended standing lug
Lugger
A lugger is a class of boats, widely used as traditional fishing boats, particularly off the coasts of France, Scotland and England. It is a small sailing vessel with lugsails set on two or more masts and perhaps lug topsails.-Defining the rig:...
rigged herring
Herring
Herring is an oily fish of the genus Clupea, found in the shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and the North Atlantic oceans, including the Baltic Sea. Three species of Clupea are recognized. The main taxa, the Atlantic herring and the Pacific herring may each be divided into subspecies...
drifter
Drifter (fishing boat)
A drifter is a type of fishing boat. They were designed to catch herrings in a long drift net. Herring fishing using drifters has a long history in the Netherlands and in many British fishing ports, particularly in East Scottish ports....
. It was preceded by the "nickey", which had a dipping lug rigging. Standing lugs have yards
Yard (sailing)
A yard is a spar on a mast from which sails are set. It may be constructed of timber, steel, or from more modern materials, like aluminium or carbon fibre. Although some types of fore and aft rigs have yards , the term is usually used to describe the horizontal spars used with square sails...
that remain on one side of the mast
Mast (sailing)
The mast of a sailing vessel is a tall, vertical, or near vertical, spar, or arrangement of spars, which supports the sails. Large ships have several masts, with the size and configuration depending on the style of ship...
and the tack
Tack (sailing)
Tack is a term used in sailing that has different meanings in different contexts, variously a part of a sail, and an alignment with the wind. When using the latter sense, the maneuver of turning between starboard and port tack is either tacking or jibing....
is set close to the mast, while dipping lugs have yards that dip around the mast when going about so that the sail draws away from the mast on each tack. The Nickeys were copies of Cornish
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
herring drifters that visited Man. The Manx Nickey was so called as Nicholas was a common Christian name amongst the Cornish crews whose boats they copied. The change to standing lug was driven by a shortage of experienced crew. This type of craft was then commissioned by The Congested Districts Board to provide a decked fishing craft to be used in Connemara
Connemara
Connemara is a district in the west of Ireland consisting of a broad peninsula between Killary Harbour and Kilkieran Bay in the west of County Galway.-Overview:...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
in the 1890s.
The vocabulary of the Anglo-Manx dialect quotes the first Manx
Isle of Man
The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...
nobby in 1884 receiving its name because it was “a rale nobby little thing”. Other nobbies may have received their name in the same way, as smart sail fishing boats.