Brief History - Percy Hunter and his two sons set up the boatbuilding and hire business in 1932 and built a fleet of 24 and 29 foot traditional Norfolk Broads cabin yachts. When the family sold the Yard in 1967, it was bought by Norfolk County Council as a schools sailing base: the Countys Chief Education Officer at the time, Sir Lincoln Ralphs, believed that education should not be confined to the classroom and activities, such as sailing, were good for teaching discipline, tolerance and team work. When the council decided to sell the Yard in 1996, there was such a public outcry that the Norfolk Heritage Fleet Trust was set up to buy and run the Yard with the charitable aim of encouraging sailing, particularly among young people. The Trust still offers a 30% discount to organised youth groups.

Youth Group Sailing Opportunity - Compared with other sailing craft on the Norfolk Broads, the Hunter Fleet boats are smaller and particularly easy to sail. This makes them much more suitable than some others because they are easily handled by young people and so give more opportunity for active participation. The Norfolk Broads are an ideal location to introduce sailing to novices as there is a diversity of conditions in a safe environment. In fact, one Scout group has had Scout permit holders as young as 16 supervising a crew of 2 or 3, which provides an ideal team building opportunity, especially in the context of a week-long challenging expedition. Many children have enjoyed the experience and now come back with their own families or as instructors with other youth groups.

Different types of youth groups (Scouts, Scripture Union, Schools, other charities) use the yachts to provide such special opportunities, each with a different emphasis, for so many young people from such a variety of backgrounds. Each of these groups has a different funding model and support strategy to make the adventures that they provide affordable for as many young people as possible.

Traditional Boatbuilding Craftsmanship and Apprentices - The Yard has a very small team of traditional boatbuilders who work tirelessly to give Percy's 'Old Gals' the TLC they need to keep going as close to the condition of when they were first built, (as best they can for girls that are over 80 years old). As you can imagine, not everyone can take on the task of maintaining 22 wooden boats without first class skills and here at Hunters the old traditional methods and even some of the old tools are used to look after them. Whenever we can the trust brings in youngsters as apprentices to teach them our traditional methods of boat building, and these skills are something they can take with them throughout their life.

The Friends of the Hunter Fleet - The Trust is very lucky to be supported by an organisation known as the Friends of the Hunter's Fleet which now number nearly 900. Without the support of these very kind and generous 'friends' the trust would find it impossible to keep the fleet going to the high standards which is now expected of 'Percy's Lovely Ladies'

Can you help? - We know these times are so difficult for everyone and asking for further help feels such a selfish thing to do. But if we don't have help from kind and generous people like you, this fleet of unique 1930s wooden sailing craft could be yet another piece of lost history. Not only the boats and traditions of this type of sailing but also the traditional boatbuilding skills would be lost too. So, can you help us keep this iconic fleet operational for more generations to come please?

Please don't forget, if you're a UK tax payer you can also Gift Aid your donation to give the Trust an extra 25p for every £ you donate. Thank you very much.