Yesterday I finally finished the CAD drawing of Peggy. If you would like to see a version of the model in 3D, please click this link which will take you it on the Manx National Heritage Sketchfab page.

Peggy 1789 (left) and 1802 (right)

There have been, I admit, some moments when, like the proverbial grape, I have "let out a little whine" of frustration over the quantity of work this has amounted to. But it's a fact that drawing Peggy in this way has really forced me to look at her properly. Without this level of study we can't hope to understand the form, function and provenance of each frame, stay, cleat and fixing. And it's vital that we do if we are to explain how she looked and how she sailed.

Using what I have learnt has enabled me to separate the two versions ('Peggies'?) - the original, 'racing' Peggy which was fitted with sliding keels and oar ports with rowlocks, and the 1802 'safe' Peggy with raised gunwales and no fancy contraptions. 

In the next two pictures I have arranged them next to one another so that the differences can, at last, be easily appreciated. The position of the masts in the 1789 version is rather conjectural at the moment and will be subject to revision in due course.

Peggy 1789 (left) and 1802 (right)

Peggy 1789 (left) and 1802 (right)

The paint colours are a basic representation of her appearance in 1789 and 1802 respectively. The scarlet red you can see peeping out over the gunwales in the 1789 version is not a mistake!

In 1950 you may recall, Peggy was restored for public viewing after 150 years of neglect. Scant records were kept of this intervention so we have never been certain exactly how many of her timbers were replaced at that time. Using the 3D drawing it is now quite easy to see those interventions. I have highlighted them in blue in the photo below. The photo shows both the underside and the view from the top of the 1802 Peggy.

An image of the 1802 Peggy with the replacement timbers dating from 1950 coloured blue