A brand new copy of a 4,000 year old craft was paddled out on a short maiden voyage in Falmouth, Cornwall on Wednesday. Christened the Morgawr after a mythical monster of Falmouth Bay, she is a 50 foot long, six-ton replica of a Bronze Age boat, which was built by a team of 50 volunteers over the last eleven months at the National Maritime Museum Cornwall.

Shaky maiden voyage for replica Bronze Age boat

Replica Bronze Age boat makes history

Getting his feet wet with the rest of the crew yesterday was Professor Robert Van de Noort from the University of Exeter, who has overseen the project. A world expert in Bronze Age boats, he said: “I’m so happy with her responsiveness. When I was steering, I could turn her easily. Today’s launch has revolutionised everything we knew.”   The build and launch represent the beginning of a wider educational project to study the mobility of Bronze Age people.