Mevagissey Tosher
The shape of the Mevagissey tosher was a smaller version of the lugger, kept to under 20ft in length, as is generally thought, to avoid the payment of harbour dues. These small open transom-sterned boats, rigged with one gaff sail, were used for inshore general long-lining and hand-lining for mackerel. Many were built by Percy Mitchell in the nearby yard at Portmellon. He became one of the best known of Cornish boatbuilders, working there until his retirement in the late 1960s. Described as ‘an artist in wood’ and as ‘one of the finest traditional boatbuilders in the world’, he produced some of the best Cornish fishing boats, even after the transition to motors.
Sources: 9, 20
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