A WINDY weather forecast has scuppered Sunday afternoon's planned naming ceremony in Tenby of a very special craft.

The first Tenby Lugger built in over 100 years was due to be welcomed to Tenby Harbour with a civic reception alongside the sailing club, but this has now been postponed with the forecast of heavy winds during the weekend.

The West Wales Maritime Heritage Trust has successfully completed the construction of the lugger, named Heritage, and she was due sail from her berth in Pembroke Dock on Saturday.

The plan was then for her to moor overnight off Caldey ahead of her triumphant arrival in Tenby, escorted by a flotilla of craft.

"Regrettably, we decided last night that we will have to put the ceremony on hold," said the Heritage's skipper Rob Phillips. "The weather conditions are not looking good, with heavy winds at the weekend."

During its heyday in the late 19th century, the Tenby lugger was one of the most recognisable fishing boat types along the Welsh coast. Around 70 were registered at Tenby between 1890 and World War One.

The advent of steam-powered fishing boats sounded the death knell for the traditional wooden luggers, but some survived until relatively recently, taking tourists on fishing trips round the bay or across to Caldey.

In 2011 the MITEC boatbuilding school in Milford Haven began constructing the first new Tenby lugger since about 1900 but only the hull had been completed when the course was discontinued.

In July 2017 the hull was presented to the West Wales Maritime Heritage Trust and moved to its headquarters in Front Street, Pembroke Dock.

For the past 12 months, the Trust members have been concentrating their efforts on finishing the replica lugger, with the aid of a generous donation by a local businessman, fitting an auxiliary engine and rigging the spars and sails. Successful sea trials were recently completed in Milford Haven.

A new date for the Heritage's naming ceremony will be arranged shortly.