Owner Tim Light says:

"We are delighted. All the hard work has resulted in such a beautiful vessel and we are extremely grateful to Dave Cockwell and his team for all the effort they have put into this new ferry for us."

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Owner Tim Light says:

"We are delighted. All the hard work has resulted in such a beautiful vessel and we are extremely grateful to Dave Cockwell and his team for all the effort they have put into this new ferry for us.

"Unlike a lot of the yachts and boats they build each year, this boat will be on their doorstep for many years to come and I’m sure all the lads who have worked on her will get great satisfaction from seeing her making that crossing each day.”

St Mawes Ferry Company managing director Tim Light.

The Duchess of Cornwall

Duchess of Cornwall

Boat name: Duchess of Cornwall

Type: St Mawes - Falmouth passenger ferry

Designer: Mash Derrick

The Duchess of Cornwall was launched in the summer of 2008, and was subsequently christened by her namesake, Camilla.

She is the first wooden passenger ferry to be built in living memory and is now successfully operating in the role for which she was built – as part of a service that carries passengers between Falmouth and St Mawes, every half hour or so 364 days a year.

Cockwells in-house designer Mash Derrick took several weeks to perfect the design, taking into account the issues raised by low tides in St Mawes, the needs of the crew who would work on the ferry and the requirement of the company itself to have a vessel which was in keeping with the other ferries in the fleet.

The comfort of passengers was high on the list of essentials for the ferry company. During the design process, the size of the windows was increased, the top deck was extended to provide more shelter for passengers on the lower deck and a gate in the hull was added to allow people in wheelchairs to use the ferry when pontoons are available for special trips.