PELICAN OF LONDON
PELICAN OF LONDON was constructed in 1948 as PELICAN she served as an Arctic trawler and then a coastal trading vessel named KADETT until 1995. In 2007 an extended conversion to a sail-training ship was completed.
Built in 1948 in Le Havre, France, Pelican was originally a double-beam Arctic fishing trawler, one of five identical ships built in Chantiers et Ateliers Augustin Normand. She was sold to a Norwegian firm and spent the next 19 years fishing the Arctic.
In 1968 Pelican was converted from a trawler to a coaster. Her owners renamed her KADETT. She remained Kadett for 27 years until in 1995 she again changed hands.
She was bought by ex-Naval Commander Graham Neilson who transformed her into a tall ship and renamed her PELICAN OF LONDON. He had already undertaken a similar project with the TS Astrid. Working in Portland Harbour, Dorset, UK, Neilson and his team spent 12 years stripping back the trawler and rebuilding her as a main mast barquentine.
A moderate rearrangement of the mainmast standing rigging enables the yards to be braced to half the traditional angle when on the wind, giving the ship unusual windward ability for a square rigger.
Read MoreBuilt in 1948 in Le Havre, France, Pelican was originally a double-beam Arctic fishing trawler, one of five identical ships built in Chantiers et Ateliers Augustin Normand. She was sold to a Norwegian firm and spent the next 19 years fishing the Arctic.
In 1968 Pelican was converted from a trawler to a coaster. Her owners renamed her KADETT. She remained Kadett for 27 years until in 1995 she again changed hands.
She was bought by ex-Naval Commander Graham Neilson who transformed her into a tall ship and renamed her PELICAN OF LONDON. He had already undertaken a similar project with the TS Astrid. Working in Portland Harbour, Dorset, UK, Neilson and his team spent 12 years stripping back the trawler and rebuilding her as a main mast barquentine.
A moderate rearrangement of the mainmast standing rigging enables the yards to be braced to half the traditional angle when on the wind, giving the ship unusual windward ability for a square rigger.
