Click the link below to see the Spotlight piece about the Memorial sail
John Warman Saunders was the original and first owner of Happy Return - see a bit of history below.
Today - 28 May 2019 - we had the John Warman Saunders memorial sail with members of his family over from Australia.
BBC spotlight will be showing the highlights in tonight’s show
It was a great sail and a memorable day for Happy Return.
Pictures in the slide show include -
Bradley the four times great grandson of John Warman Saunders. Today he helmed the boat as did his forefather over 100 years ago.
Also a picture of David Keast with a very nice plaque given to Happy Return today by Trish Creed great granddaughter of John Warman Saunders .
Peter May at the helm with John Warman Saunders great granddaughters Trish Creed and Louise Conway who Joined us today with their families for the memorial sail.
John Tellam tells the story of Happy Return to the BBC
A bit of history -
HAPPY RETURN (FE 5) was built at Kitto’s Yard, Porthleven, as a Mounts Bay pilchard driver for John Warman Saunders of Folkestone to replace his previous Cornish lugger GOOD INTENT which was lost in a gale off Folkestone in 1904. All three crew (the owner and his two sons John and Edward) were saved and the name of the new lugger celebrated that fact.