Strange, incongruous or just plain silly boat class names

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Nigel
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Strange, incongruous or just plain silly boat class names

Post by Nigel »

Hi all,

Alan's post on the Sailhorse got me thinking about what possesses designers to give their inventions some of the strange boat class names that come up. (What is a Sailhorse? Did it lose something in translation?)

Examples that spring to mind

Jollyboat - does not seem to fit the fast powerful boat itself

Woodpussy - where did that come from?

Feel free to join in :)
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Ed
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Re: Strange, incongruous or just plain silly boat class name

Post by Ed »

jollyboat has always been a mystery to me....

Especially as up to that point Fairey had always named their boats after their aircraft.

My imagination is that it is named that because that was what Fairey wanted and expected.....but Uffa gave them his '18ft dinghy' as it was on the drawing board. Original Uffa and Fairey plans don't say 'Jollyboat' but just '18ft dinghy. They then had to get the Falcon designed (notably not by Uffa) before they got what they wanted.

But that is pure speculation...

I wrote a bit on this at: http://www.cvrda.org/jollyboat/?page_id=11

cheers

eib
Ed Bremner
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Rupert
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Re: Strange, incongruous or just plain silly boat class name

Post by Rupert »

That Wildflower you identified today...wild flowers are surely small and dainty?

The Turtle. Mind, I guess it is slow.
Rupert
cweed
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Re: Strange, incongruous or just plain silly boat class name

Post by cweed »

Topper? Can't understand the logic in calling a dinghy that............. A Monopoly enthusiast perhaps?
solentgal
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Re: Strange, incongruous or just plain silly boat class name

Post by solentgal »

Topper as in "car-topper"........?
Sami.
chris
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Re: Strange, incongruous or just plain silly boat class name

Post by chris »

The early Uffa Fox nat 12 design was called 'Uffa King'.
According to Jamie Cambpell when a couple of young apprentices were sent out from Cowes to try out the prototype. Fox called out to learn their first thoughts on the boat but what he heard back amidst the general noise was not quite what they actually said:
"(uf)fa King (horrible)"

But he liked the name they had given it.
Michael Brigg
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Re: Strange, incongruous or just plain silly boat class name

Post by Michael Brigg »

Said it before...

Streaker?? :? 8) :lol:
Michael Brigg
Michael Brigg
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Re: Strange, incongruous or just plain silly boat class name

Post by Michael Brigg »

Nigel wrote:Hi all,

Woodpussy - where did that come from?

Feel free to join in :)
:shock:

Tried to look this one up at work and nearly got into trouble with the Computer admin! :?

(Just don,t do it unless your "preferences" are set on a very safe search level

Please have you got a picture!? :wink:
Michael Brigg
Pat
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Re: Strange, incongruous or just plain silly boat class name

Post by Pat »

Some of the modern ones seem to be just random marketing inventions - Qba, Bahia, Vago, Taz
PaulM
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Re: Strange, incongruous or just plain silly boat class name

Post by PaulM »

In my little Dumpy Book of Dinghies from the 1950s, there is a French boat called the Highlander, with a dancing Scot as the sail logo.

In the USA there is a boat called the El Toro, which sounds like a big butch bullish boat.............but it's actually a little kids' pram like an Oppie or a Sabot.

Paul
Nigel
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Re: Strange, incongruous or just plain silly boat class name

Post by Nigel »

Michael Brigg wrote:Tried to look this one up at work and nearly got into trouble with the Computer admin!
Sorry Michael. My mistake. It should actually be two separate words. Try that.
chris
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Re: Strange, incongruous or just plain silly boat class name

Post by chris »

There's a Mallard 12' which looks a lovely trad dinghy and is presumably named after the duck so no problem there. But being born well within the steam age Mallard allways means the record breaking steam loco (Gressley's A4) which reached nearly 126mph in 1938. a record that still stands for the fasted steam loco I think. The styling makes it such an icon of it age too. Not quite the same sleek shape as the Swallows and Amazons type dinghy though.
JimC
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Re: Strange, incongruous or just plain silly boat class name

Post by JimC »

Pat wrote:Some of the modern ones seem to be just random marketing inventions - Qba, Bahia, Vago, Taz
Thatt's the internet search engine factor I think. That and the need to find a sequence of letters that will make roughly the same noise in a good selection of languages...
Nigel
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Re: Strange, incongruous or just plain silly boat class name

Post by Nigel »

PaulM wrote:In the USA there is a boat called the El Toro, which sounds like a big butch bullish boat.............but it's actually a little kids' pram like an Oppie or a Sabot
with what appears to be a particularly inappropriate phallic sail logo for a kid's boat as well
PaulM
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Re: Strange, incongruous or just plain silly boat class name

Post by PaulM »

The sail logo of the El Toro is apparently a shovel..........it seems both this and the name were chosen because this was a "no bull****" boat!

Paul
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