Tall wooden ship named Tenacious docks in Poole Harbour

The ship, called Tenacious, arrived in Poole Harbour on Wednesday, June 15. 

She was built in Southampton in the late Nineties and set off on her maiden voyage in the historic Hampshire dockyard on September 1, 2000.  

Tenacious in Poole Harbour. Credit to Bill Lane

The tall sailing vessel stands more than 27 metres tall, 65 metres long and nearly 11 metres wide – and sails under the flag of the United Kingdom. 

Tenacious was built for the Jubilee Sailing Trust and was financed by a fundraiser, with disabled people forming part of the 1,500-strong build team. 

It is also the largest of its kind to be built in more than 100 years, and she was specially designed to accommodate anyone over 16 with a disability. 

Access is provided throughout Tenacious for disabled crew, including wheelchair users, with flat wide decks and powered lifts.  

For blind crew members, there is a speaking compass and a bright track radar for the use of partially sighted crew.  

Tenacious in Poole Harbour. Credit to Bill Lane

There is also an induction loop and vibrator alarms which have been installed for hard of hearing crew members. 

One man in the harbour couldn’t take his eyes away from the magnificent vessel, saying: “She’s incredible, isn’t she?” 

His friend added: “This is why I love coming to the harbour – there are some amazing boats that come here.” 

Sarah, who was walking in Poole Harbour with her dog, said Tenacious is “quite remarkable to look at” as she enjoyed watching it in the afternoon sun. 

Image from ShipTracking app

Tenacious isn’t the only ship to turn heads in Poole Harbour this week. 

A 67 metre superyacht called Nebula docked in the harbour on Sunday evening from Gijon, Spain after a two-day voyage. 

Nebula is in the top five per cent of yachts by length overall in the world and is one of 187 motor yachts in the 60-70m size range, and, compared to similarly sized motor yachts, her top speed is 4.06 knots above average.