A NEW tour boat has set sail on its maiden voyage up the River Tawe.

The voyage has come just under a year after the river boat, known as the Black Prince, arrived in Swansea after being transported by road from Leeds.

Charles White, chairman of the Swansea Community Boat Trust, said the boat could carry up to 50 passengers and would now sail on Saturdays and Sundays during the winter months from Swansea Marina up the River Tawe to the Liberty Stadium and back as part of a two- hour trip.

Mr White said: "It is going to be a tremendous tourist attraction and a benefit to the city."

Funding for the boat has come from a variety of sources.

Visit Wales supplied £40,000 to purchase the vessel, which arrived in Swansea on December 16 last year.

Funding from the Coalfields Regeneration Trust has also allowed for the hiring of two full-time members of staff.

Wayne Morgan has been brought in as boat manager while Chrissie Joyce has been recruited as skipper of the Swansea Community Boat.

The Swansea Community Boat tour will pass the site of the Hafod copperworks, which was promised a £540,000 heritage grant on Friday last week.

Work will start next year on new tourist trails and a visitor gateway, with an annual celebration of the copper industry and its local and global history also in the plans.

Money from Welsh heritage body Cadw will be used to restore features at the copperworks.

A club which has produced five millionaires and three lord mayors was the first to sail on the boat.

Members of the Pickwick Club, created in the 1970s to help businessmen become more successful in Swansea, set sail on the vessel from its moorings close to the National Waterfront Museum at 2pm yesterday afternoon.

Mr White added: "This is a new chapter in the history of the boat and in Swansea's history.

"It will give the people of Swansea and the wider area the opportunity of having an experience of travelling on the boat and seeing Swansea in a different light. We hope we can be part of a hub for tourism and historical reference."

rupert.hall@swwmedia.co.uk