David's latest Y&Y missive

[Rupert]

http://www.yachtsandyachting.com/news/1 ... e-Wise-Men

[dronskiuk]

A very enjoyable read, compliments to the author!

Thanks for the link

[davidh]

Andrew,

Dear old 'Ma Birkett' at Hamble School must be reeling with disbelief - I think she was ready to give up on me in the English Language classes, Mr Guy in English Lit ditto! What would they make of that!

Actually, we're keen on feedback! Thanks for the comments, what we also want to know is about the format! Does the longer, more detailed article work for the reader, or is the standard, quick overview of 1000 words more easily digested?

D

[Obscured by clouds]

excellent article.

[dronskiuk]

David

As one who was similarly despaired over I'm not sure I'm qualified to offer any kind of critique!

The format was perfect for me and for the subject - the interaction between the three icons of sixties + dinghy sailing was something that warranted taking an article that length to pull together. I found it fascinating...Jack Chippendale was the only one I knew personally but I enjoyed learning how things came together in my favourite era.

Would it work for subjects I'm less intrigued by? Maybe..but I generally find your subject matter to my liking so keep plugging away on the in-detail stuff please.

Wasn't it Miss Guy who married Ken Makepeace...my recall isn't great but I'm almost sure she also took us for Drama?

Thanks - Andrew

[Rupert]

Nice to read an article that looks in detail at a subject not in the current mainstream. Of course, most of us on here are old boat geeks, but then many reading Y&Y.com will be boat geeks, at least.

I liked the longer format, though reading long articles on screen is harder than on paper.

[davidh]

Andrew...

Ha - Ken M..... we didn't get along which is a shame, as I found history an 'easy' subject and one that I found to my liking. Had he helped or even, god forbid, encouraged me, well...who knows where I might have ended up! But...who took English Lit?

Rupert....thanks - I will pass that on, an interesting insight. A bigger problem is in sourcing pictures for this sort of work!

D

[Max McCarthy]

David,

A lovely article - I really like the way you get so many facts into what would seem a relatively short piece on the basis of that.

Personally; I found the length ideal, long enough to get me firmly interested in the topic, and not too short, that I was left, wanting more information for one article!

Very interesting though, and great to learn about the 'three wise men', and of course, more of the 505 story. And amazing to think when that wing mast was tried on an IC!

Really made a very good read...

Many thanks,

Max

PS - I look forward to the next article - anything you can tell us of what it might be about, or are you keeping it secret!? And on a side note: how is the Merlin Rocket book coming along?

[Rupert]

Liked the photo of Jack Chippendale with big grin!

[davidh]

Max,

There is little point in secrecy, for as soon as I start asking questions about a topic, it would be a dead give away. More importantly, I don't work like that anyway - ask me at any time what I'm working on and I'm happy to tell (okay, topic for today is the history of Charts and in particular, the UK Hydrographic Office. Sadly, I have a strict word count on that, for the life of Beaufort, who gave us the wind strength system, is full of great stories).

What is next..... well...... I would have to say:

Restorations-R-Us! The nature of dinghy restorations are changing to reflect a shift in the perceived values of classic boats. A look at the new wave of boats (and the people restoring them) complete with LOTS of pictures.

Eileen Ramsey Interview: An extended look at the amazing life and work of this ground breaking photographer.

Have you Fairey's at the bottom of the garden? In the post war era, Fairey Marine were one of the powerhouses behind the explosion in dinghy popularity. A look at the how and why this happened, the classes they built and where it all went wrong!

Little and Large: For some time now the Finns have had an active classic scene, but now, at the other end of the single handed scale, classic Moths are starting to hatch in ever growing numbers. If it was just these two classes, one could fairly easily rationalise things, but as we well know, the Minisails are increasingly active and now the Solos are venturing into classical waters.

Dinghy designer Family Tree - an old chestnut this! My guess is that this would work better as an illustrated talk to be given at sailing clubs.... but this too is under consideration!

Pocket Rockets: Although delightful boats to sail, neither the Buzz nor the RS 500 are known for their popularity, whilst the 29er only really exists as a youth boat. Looking back, there is a string of superb 'pocket rocket' dinghies - yet none have really stayed the course. Why is that and do they have a future now in the classic scene.

I'm sure that there are a host of other topics that people will want to aim me at, if anyone has a brilliant idea then let me know. In the meantime, the Merlin Rocket book is written (well, at least the core.... I have more interviews to add in) and the like of Chris Barlow and Mike Liggett have been busy working as proof readers. The good news is that both seem to like it - as I now understand the situation, the book launch will be at the Dinghy Show in 2015.

However...as work slowly starts to wind down on Pure Magic, it is getting ever busier with 'Simply the Best' - the story of the 505. (Max, if you've not seen it yet, there is a FB page on the project).

The plan, if you can call it that, is to launch StB at the 2017 505 Worlds in the US, that leaves me free to do the Proctor Centennial in 2018...then retire!

But as with all good ideas, my betting is that tomorrow, someone will come out of the woodwork and say to me about dinghy class X,Y or Z...and it will all change!

Right...back to the day job!

D

[Rupert]

The dinghy designer family tree reminds me of the British 1970's rock scene, where Deep Purple, Rainbow, Black Sabbath and many many others seemed to share a constant merry-go-round of musicians.

Saw a poster once with all the connections - was a work of art, and totally baffling.

[Chrisrjwood]

David, great piece, really, really interesting. Love the format and the pictures. A good look back at what many of us consider the golden years of dinghy development.


Also, thank you for posting the picture of the Jolly pirate crew, proof to my wife that I'm not having an affair (at least only with a boat ).

That one is definitely going up on the wall, thank you.

Chris

[Max McCarthy]

David,

Exactly what I thought; we would find out anyway, but it is nice to whet the appetite Sounds like you have a lot of very interesting work lined up; I can't wait to read the full articles! And I didn't know that there was a FB page for the 505 book, I shall have a good look....

Cheers,

Max