DISCOVER Living Heritage With Excelsior

One of the UK’s most historic vessels, Excelsior LT472 is a traditional Lowestoft fishing smack, built more than a century ago and now offering sailing days and adventures for all.

LEARN MORE

CONSERVATION

Learn why we restore these icons of the east coast’s past
Button

MAINTENANCE

See what it takes to keep
Excelsior sailing
Button

SAILING

Discover the Excelsior Experience for yourself! Check out our upcoming voyages
Button

DISCOVER OUR WORK

The Excelsior Trust is a charitable organisation that provides life changing sailing experiences for young and disadvantaged people, schools and corporate groups as well as unique sailing opportunities for individuals, all while preserving and maintaining some of the UK’s most historic ships. Our mission is to not only preserve LT472 Excelsior but also to restore other historic vessels of national importance.

FIND OUT MORE

“Overall, this was an experience that I will never forget, no matter what.”

"Fantastic Experience"

2025 What we are up to and where

Whenever we are in Lowestoft you can normally find Excelsior at Lowestoft’s Heritage Quay and if crew are on hand we will gladly show you around. You can book a Heritage Sailing Day and take a hand at sailing this historic wooden ship. See our Booking page for details of Experience Days and Voyages.

If you have a group or organisation who would like to sail for a day, email us at sailing@excelsiortrust.co.uk to find out more. Bursaries and support available for qualifying groups.

FIND OUT MORE Track Exelsior Live

What’s New

Excelsior had a long period of maintenance this winter as we got her ready for important certifications and made sure she was in top condition ready for the exciting year ahead. Her masts were checked over, her rigging was taken down and she has completed her 5 year Survey.

After her long-serving stove 'Deirdre' grew ever more unreliable, we were finally able to invest in a replacement which will be installed before we sail this summer.

We couldn’t have done any of this without the continued support of our generous donors and team of excellent volunteers throughout the past year.

DONATE

Coming up

Our plans for 2025 include taking part in the Tall Ships Race in the Channel and North Sea from July, but prior to that we have an exciting programme of adventures and sail training trips to develop skills for the novice and the seasoned sailors.

Our voyages will be available to schools and youth organisations, Duke of Edinburgh’s Award participants and there will also be opportunities for individuals to sail on stretches too! Please contact us for more information.

Check our Program (GET WAIT LISTED)