By February we had started the process of setting up Wherry Maud Trust and were invited by the Civil Service Sailing Association to talk to them at Rutland about Maud and our plans for her. Joe Farrow and Linda Pargeter gave the talk at their clubhouse overlooking Rutland Water and were afterwards entertained to lunch. In September some members of CSSA came down to sail on Maud and will do so again in 2016. On that day in October we had a gentle sail from Stalham down to Barton and an excellent pub lunch at the White Horse at Neatishead before returning to Stalham. 

Wherry Maud Trust trips got off to a good start in May 2015 when Maud attended the Thurne Mouth Open Regatta for about the third year running. It has now become traditional to take Maud for short trips in the evenings and EACC members enjoyed sailing in a somewhat larger vessel than normal.

June saw Maud on the Yare for the first time for a few years when she visited the Ferry House at Surlingham, and undertook some short sailings.

In August Maud was filmed sailing on the Bure near Thurne Mill for the Channel 4 series Disappearing Britain with presenter Larry Lamb. It was a blustery day but Maud sailed well with Joe Farrow skippering and Larry thoroughly enjoyed himself. “Our” episode was finally shown on More 4 in March 2016 and was a very sympathetic portrayal of Maud and the beauty of the Norfolk Broads.

During the rest of August and early September Maud was moored at the Museum of the Broads and went for several trips, including the one mentioned above with our friends from Rutland.

The newly re-formed Great Yarmouth Sailing Club used Maud as their Committee boat at Thurne for their regatta in mid-September, a reminder of an occasion in the early 1900s when Maud was all decked out for a regatta on the Bure.

At the end of the season, in November, we held an Archive Evening in Acle Church Hall. It was well attended and proved a great success. Home-made cakes were generously donated and enjoyed and the speakers were much appreciated, especially Bob Malster, and Thelma Waller – the granddaughter of Maud’s designer William Henry Hall – who spoke entertainingly about her grandfather’s model wherries and other boats.

And so the first year of Wherry Maud Trust came to a successful end.