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The Fifie is a design of sailing boat developed on the east coast of Scotland
Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
. It was used by Scottish fishermen
Fishing

Fishing is the activity of catching fish. Fishing techniques include Fish net, Fish trap, Spearfishing, angling and Gathering seafood by hand. The term fishing may be applied to catching other aquatic animals such as different types of shellfish, squid, octopus, turtles, Edible frog and some edible marine invertebrates....
 from the 1850s until well into the 20th century. These boats were mainly used to fish for herring
Herring

Herring are small, oily fish of the genus Clupea found in the shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific Ocean and the North Atlantic Ocean, including the Baltic Sea....
 using drift net
Drift net

Drift netting is a fishing technique where Fishing net, called drift nets, are allowed to drift free in a sea or lake. Usually a drift net is a gill net with floats attached to a rope along the top of the net, and weights attached to another rope along the foot of the net....
s, and along with other designs of boat were known as herring drifters.

While the boats varied in design, they can be categorised by their vertical stem and stern
Stern

The stern is the rear or aft part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter to the taffrail....
, their long straight keel
Keel

In boats and ships, keel can refer to either of two parts: a structural element, or a hydrodynamic element. These parts overlap. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in construction of a ship, the construction is dated from this event, with only the ship's Ship_naming_and_launching considered more significant in its creati...
 and wide beam
Beam (nautical)

The beam of a ship is its width at the widest point, or at the mid-point of its length. Generally speaking, the wider the beam of a ship , the more initial stability it has, at expense of reserve stability in the event of a capsize, where more energy is required to right the vessel from its inverted position....
.






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Reaper in Sail
The Fifie is a design of sailing boat developed on the east coast of Scotland
Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
. It was used by Scottish fishermen
Fishing

Fishing is the activity of catching fish. Fishing techniques include Fish net, Fish trap, Spearfishing, angling and Gathering seafood by hand. The term fishing may be applied to catching other aquatic animals such as different types of shellfish, squid, octopus, turtles, Edible frog and some edible marine invertebrates....
 from the 1850s until well into the 20th century. These boats were mainly used to fish for herring
Herring

Herring are small, oily fish of the genus Clupea found in the shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific Ocean and the North Atlantic Ocean, including the Baltic Sea....
 using drift net
Drift net

Drift netting is a fishing technique where Fishing net, called drift nets, are allowed to drift free in a sea or lake. Usually a drift net is a gill net with floats attached to a rope along the top of the net, and weights attached to another rope along the foot of the net....
s, and along with other designs of boat were known as herring drifters.

While the boats varied in design, they can be categorised by their vertical stem and stern
Stern

The stern is the rear or aft part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter to the taffrail....
, their long straight keel
Keel

In boats and ships, keel can refer to either of two parts: a structural element, or a hydrodynamic element. These parts overlap. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in construction of a ship, the construction is dated from this event, with only the ship's Ship_naming_and_launching considered more significant in its creati...
 and wide beam
Beam (nautical)

The beam of a ship is its width at the widest point, or at the mid-point of its length. Generally speaking, the wider the beam of a ship , the more initial stability it has, at expense of reserve stability in the event of a capsize, where more energy is required to right the vessel from its inverted position....
. These attributes made the Fifies very stable in the water and allowed them to carry a very large set of sails. The long keel, however, made them difficult to manoeuvre in small harbours
Harbor

A harbor or harbour , or haven, is a place where ships may shelter from the weather or are stored. Harbors can be man-made or natural....
.

Sailing Fifies had two masts with the standard rig consisting of a main
Mast (sailing)

The mast of a sailing ship is a tall, vertical, or near vertical, spar, or arrangement of spars, which supports the sails. Large ships have several masts, with the size and configuration depending on the style of ship....
 dipping lugsail
Lugger

A lugger is a type of small sailing vessel setting lugsails on two or more mast and perhaps lug topsails....
 and a mizzen
Mast (sailing)

The mast of a sailing ship is a tall, vertical, or near vertical, spar, or arrangement of spars, which supports the sails. Large ships have several masts, with the size and configuration depending on the style of ship....
 standing lug sail. The masts were positioned far forward and aft on the boat to give the maximum clear working space amidships. A large fifie could reach just over 20 metres in length. Because of their large sail area they were very fast sailing boats.
Fifiesmall
Fifies built after 1860 were all decked and from 1870s onwards the bigger boats were built with carvel planking, i.e. the planks were laid edge to edge instead of the overlapping clinker style
Clinker (boat building)

Clinker boat building is a method of constructing hull s of boats and ships by fixing wooden planks and, in the early nineteenth century, Wrought iron plates to each other so that the planks overlap along their edges....
 of previous boats. From about 1905 onwards sailing Fifies were gradually fitted with engines and converted to motorised vessels.

There are few surviving examples of this type of fishing boat still in existence. The Scottish Fisheries Museum
Scottish Fisheries Museum

The Scottish Fisheries Museum is an award-winning museum in Anstruther, Fife, that records the history of the Scotland Scottish fishing industry and its people from earliest times to the present day....
 based in Anstruther
Anstruther

Anstruther is a small town in Fife, Scotland. The two Anstruthers are divided by a small stream called Dreel Burn. Anstruther lies 9 miles south-southeast of St Andrews....
, Fife
Fife

Fife is a council area of Scotland, situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire....
 has restored and still sails a classic example of this type of vessel named the Reaper
Reaper (sailing vessel)

Reaper is a restored historic Fifie herring drift net which is registered by the National Historic Ships Committee as part of the Core Collection of historic vessels in the United Kingdom, and currently operates as a museum ship....
. The Swan Trust in Lerwick
Lerwick

Lerwick is the capital and main port of the Shetland Islands, Scotland, located more than 100 miles off the north coast of mainland Great Britain on the east coast of the Shetland Mainland....
, Shetland
Shetland Islands

Shetland is an archipelago in Scotland, off the northeast coast. The islands lie to the northeast of Orkney, from the Faroe Islands and form part of the division between the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the North Sea to the east....
 have restored and maintain another Fifie, The Swan, as a sail training vessel. She now takes over 1000 trainees each year, and has taken trainees to participate in the Cutty Sark
Cutty Sark

The Cutty Sark is a clipper ship. Built in 1869, she served as a merchant vessel , and then as a training ship until being put on public display in 1954....
 Tall Ships Races
The Tall Ships' Races

The Tall Ships' Races are races for sail training tall ship . The races are designed to encourage international friendship and training for young people in the art of sailing....
 to ports in France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
, Denmark
Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in northern Europe and the senior member of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries....
, the Netherlands
Netherlands

The Netherlands is a country that is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands is located in North-West Europe, and bordered by the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east....
, Ireland
Ireland

Ireland is the List of islands by area in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islet....
 as well as around the UK
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....


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