Old books

[Nessa]

Today I gleefully received my Hippo book of sailing craft. This is dated 1964 and has some gems I had not yet encountered, including a Top Ten, a Dee Cee and a Nabob, as well as photos of Mirrors with the highest sail number seen being 50!

I love all these old books. I have the Ladybird Book of Sailing and Boating (superbly clear explanations and diagrams) How to Sail A Dinghy, priced at one shilling, and many more, including classics by Elvstrom and Stuart Walker.

I keep them all in a pile by my bedside, with the jack russell on guard nearby.....

[Ancient Geek]

I quite agree Nessa some of the modern ones are nigh on unreadable or so simplistic that they are useless, but do not tell the tyro how to do an eye splice etc. Bob Fisher did a good one 30 years ago or more ago "Crewing Dinghies and Small Keelboats" and there is one by Bob ???? (Help me Garry i gave a copy to you!) Which is better than Stu' Walker. Have you got "Scientific Sailboat Racing", Manfred Curry's books for instance?

[andrew]

My favourite is by Gabor Denes and called "Starting Sailing" I think.
Great photos of Cadets and fireflies and I think I remember a picture of someone throwing and anchor off the foredeck of a Jollyboat.
Will try and dig it out tomorrow and check title.
Thoroughly recommended.

[cweed]

One of my favourites is a copy of a book titled 'Dinghy Cruising' by A.G. Earl dated 1948. It features the author's 'Parkstone Yacht Club Dinghy Class'.
I haven't found a good classic sailing book in a charity shop or jumble sale for several years now......

[JimC]

My best discovery, for 25p at a Surrey Library, was an Australian kid's book called "Sailing Skiffs", full of photos of the particularly vibrant very early 70s 18 footers...

[Garry R]

For a good read "When dinghies delight" and "Marks to Starboard" by Robin Stevenson, particularly as he outlines some of the history of the Rocket class alongside the Merlin and National 12. In fact I used some of the illustrations to decide how Gannet had been originally fitted out by Wyche and Coppock. Apart from the historical aspect there are some excellent descriptions of races in which he was involved.

[Ancient Geek]

A habitual 2nd hand book shop searcher I often find copies of real classics, the early Keith Shackleton books, the big prewar Uffa Fox annuals, Manfred Curry, For some reason the Robin Stevenson books are hard to get hold of except in Australia! The American ones (Ted Wells. Stuart Walker etc., too.
Garry and I have visited one of the best second hand book shops in the UK run by one Ercia Rowe (Sad to say gravity has taken over!) they are a bit more canny about what they have but still have the odd gem.
Many Public Libraries especially in Hampshire are selling off their stock to make room for computers and play rooms for mothers groups, how very sad, but one mans disaster is anothers opportunity, I was able to get a full set of original copies of all the Uffa Fox Annuals and Manfred Curry to add to those I have already for 50p a book!
Sadly no copies of the Merlin Rocket Book, but Garry and I found one new still in its cellophane wrapper a few years back and the man had to be persuaded to take money for it, along with a wee collection of vintage dinghy fittings!

[davidh]

AG,

Is that THE Erica Rowe = of Twickenham fame???????

I bet your eyes didn't get past the middle shelf!

D

[Ancient Geek]

Yes, but as I said gravity has taken over.

[mcyotty]

Should this tale not have been posted under old BOOBS then?

[Ed]

Neil and I did talk about putting together a 'book-list' of all the dinghy sailing books that the CVRDA membership had.....and putting it up on the website somewhere.

could be a laugh....

thoughts

eib

[Ancient Geek]

But then people would want to borrow them!
And then we would never get them back.

[Southern377]

What a great idea the "Book List" could be.

Not a question of lending and losing but more of scanning and sharing?

Perhaps we should start a new thread or even a new topic heading?

I have incomplete collections of Yachting World Annuals and Dinghy Year Books and probably another 100 or more other books.

I need to do an inventory as I have duplicates after buying a huge box full....

Regards,

Alan.

[Frank Baldry]

I have just obtained a couple of books by Richard Creagh-Osborne, "This is Dinghy Sailing" with delightful illustrations by Peter Milne and "Dinghy Building" which is a mine of useful info on state-of-the-art in the mid-70's. Lots of useful photos of classic dinghies under construction including the Eleven Plus which has been discussed recently in another thread. Great stuff.