LORD Nelson put in a surprise reappearance after 200 years at the weekend when a charity launched its latest fundraising campaign.

Jubilee sailing Trust aims to boost its funds by £200,000 in just four months in the year that Britain celebrates the bicentenary anniversary of its greatest naval victory, the Battle of Trafalgar.

Visitors flocked to see the trust's flagship Lord Nelson at Portsmouth's Gunwharf Quays and were greeted by a Lord Nelson lookalike as the T200K campaign was officially launched.

Campaign director Simon Paine said that despite the rain, the event was a huge success.

"The weather made its best attempt to dampen our spirits but failed," he said.

"The day went really well and the surprise reappearance of Lord Nelson certainly caught everyone's attention!"

The JST, based at Woolston, owns the only two tall ships in the world designed specifically to be sailed by disabled and able-bodied people. It costs £1.7m a year to put them to sea - and all the holidays are subsidised to enable as many people to join the voyages as possible. More than 25,000 people, including 10,000 with disabilities, have put to sea on Lord Nelson and Tenacious in the trust's 19-year history. About 4,000 of those have even been wheelchair users.

This year the extraordinary ships, which have Braille signs and electric wheelchair lifts between decks, are playing a key role in the Trafalgar celebrations.

Both Tenacious and Lord Nelson will be joining the historic Fleet Review off Spithead in the Solent on June 25, before sailing back to Portsmouth for the International Festival of the Sea.

In July, Lord Nelson will recreate the historic journey which told of victory at Trafalgar and the death of Lord Nelson, taking in the Spanish port of Cadiz before arriving in Falmouth.

In September it will also join the Thames Flotilla, recreating Nelson's waterborne funeral procession from Greenwich to Whitehall. Visit the website at www.jst.org.uk or call 0870 443 5781.