Maud MN21 is a 37ft Howard smack built in 1876.

Colne Match results;

Built in 1876, the ‘Maud’ was sold in 1928 to a fisherman at Mersea, who worked ther until approx. 1960 when he retired. As tradition goes it is believed that because the fisherman retired the boat that he worked retired as well. Her original fishing no. was CK78, she later she took the no. MN21.

In the 1960s, the ‘Maud’ was laid up on the hard at West Mersea and allowed to deteriorate over a number of years. However, around 1965 Mr. Cecil Stebbens, a boatyard owner at Heybridge Basin, Maldon, Essex, bought her in a ‘sunk’ condition and brought her to Heybridge Basin. He worked on her for about five years to bring her to seaworthy condition, and then went on to win a great many races. The owner who purchased the ‘Maud’ in April 1976 converted her for cruising and racing purposes.

In 2008, she was for sale again, and taken to the Netherlands. She has since been resold and ended up in Germany and sheathed in concrete in order for a rebuild to start in 2021.

Awaiting restoration in Germany, photo taken in 2020.
©Watersport Den Bosch.
Awaiting restoration in Germany, photo taken in 2020.
©Watersport Den Bosch.
1963 Winter, smacks IRIS and MAUD in the ice. The hulk of the PIONEER lies in the distance.
MAUD, on the right, was built in Maldon in 1889. She was MN21 before being bought by Allan Bird and reregistered as CK78 in 1964.
The IRIS was lost after being swept ashore near Hartlepool in 1979.
©Mersea Museum.
Maldon Hythe on a summer afternoon about 1957. The smacks include MN21 MAUD and MN23. The barge NELLIE PARKER is on the blocks in the distance. Smoke from Sadd’s sawmills drifts across the horizon. ©Mersea Museum.
MAUD MN21. One of a set of photographs from Eddie Caswell who owned MAUD in the late 1970s. The full set of photographs can be found on website www.maudmn21.com.
MAUD MN21
Peldon in the 1970s at the end of the Peldon Smack Race. Chicks Milgate, Don Wright, Hervey Benham, Dick Harman and others. Smacks MN21 MAUD, MN9 JOSEPH T, CK256 HYACINTH, PEACE.
Used in The Salty Shore page 87.
Cutting from newspaper for this is in BOXL_032_007. Photographer was John Adams, winner of race was Molly Kennell in HYACINTH. ©Mersea Museum.