• FV Defiant

11th May 2004Defiant moves to Portsmouth

The Defiant is now in Portsmouth for finishing off and will be ready for sea soon

30th April 2004Defiant is afloat

5th February 2004Defiant in the Press

Click on the picture above for the full size cutting.

13th November 2003  Out of the Shed

Defiant is now out of the sheds.  Although in grey primer, the shape of the hull can be seen, the wheelhouse is welded on and the hand rails in place

Prop and rudder installed

The wheelhouse door is being made by Tony Reynard, a cabinet maker and lecturer at Chichester College of Further Education.  Here is Chrystianne bravely facing the winds that day just outside the door space

The winch from North Sea Winches has been installed

The net drums are ready to be lifted up on to the stern after Vaughan has bolted the discs to the legs

They hang precariously in the air.  Bill has just caught the edge of one of the discs

It’s a tense moment for Paul Toms as he adjusts the controls

We are nearly there!

All in place

13th January 2003  It is impossible to get an idea of how big the vessel is

Martin Jones climbing the ladder to the lower deck

Bill inspecting.  Note the cuts in the the ceiling joists to accommodate the hull

Martin and Bill discussing the layout

Fish room hatch

7th January 2003We have an engine

The main Cummins NTA 855M engine is ready for despatch to the Builders Yard in Cornwall for installation into the vessel

3rd December 2002The propeller

The shaft and the propeller at North End Precision's premises in Portsmouth are ready to despatch to Alan Toms

18th November 2002The propeller nozzle

The rudder and nozzle awaits the propeller and shaft

20th September 2002The hull takes shape

Tom's Yard  has been working hard and construction progresses on target

30th July 2002Construction Continues Apace

Mike Barker, Toms' Yard Foreman and Chief Welder, measures the main midships bulkhead ready to start the framework

Here are the pieces of steel to construct the fuel tanks.

24th July 2002Keel Laid

At last, the Keel is finally laid on July 24th.

28th July 2002    General Purpose Winches are nearly finished

The FV Defiant will need these small winches as they are invaluable for hauling in the cod end.

5th July 2002Mentioned in dispatches

Fishing News 5th July 2002 : The Wharton Brother's new vessel Our Josie Grace has a full centrefold this week for their new steel 14.95m vessel now fishing out of North Devon & Cornwall.  We get a mention, and he's right about our winch !

12th June 2002Defiant Progresses

Now here's the first part of the kit for building the new trawler. Looks like they're building a rocking horse!

22nd May 2002Steel to Arrive.

Expected date for steel delivery from Corus to Alan Toms boatyard. This will be used to begin the construction of the Defiant's hull.

10th May 2002

Were looking for a Prawn Fishing License for fishing area VII. If you have one for sale or can help us with this please contact us.

8th May 2002New web site online

New site launches ! Victory Fishing sails into new waters on the Information Super Aqueduct. We hope to use our new site to tell you a little more about us and offer some helpful links to other companies in the Fishing industry who may be of use to you.

New Vessel - New Project

The expansion of the company means that although the 12m trawlers are achieving profits, there is no growth. With a slightly larger vessel we will enable the Skipper to handle more adverse weather conditions and provide more flexibility in trawling methods but most importantly - land the fish in France as the markets are much stronger there than the UK. Additionally, the new vessel will be more efficient than previous one, with little increase in running costs.

Our aim is to build the new 14m vessel over the next 2years. This design is by by Dennis Swire, based on the French Shelter Deck style trawler.

The new vessel has just reached the end of the design stage and the next procedure is to cut the vessel out of steel in kit form. The builder, C Toms & Son based at Polruan, Cornwall, has been employed to build the vessel and fit some of the interior. We will be working with the builders on engine installations and general fitting out work as we did with the building of the Equinox. The vessel will be finished off in Portsmouth. The SFIA in conjunction with the MCA have approved the drawings and will be overseeing the entire project.

News about the construction of our new vessel can be found here. As construction progresses we'll update this section with pictures and other details.