One club classes

Rod · Post by **Rod** » Sun Aug 13, 2006 12:56 am

I was bobbing up and down in the club whaler as PRO (hey, the one and only race officer, flag raiser, timer, etc.), running the Chesapeake 20 nationals (10 boats) and the thought occurred to me; how many other sailing classes are only raced out of one club. The Chesapeake 20 is only raced out of West River Sailing Club in Galesville MD USA. It is based on a design by Dick Hartge drawn to a development class rule that was racing pre WWII. It is 20 feet long with long overhangs (approx 15' LWL) with an enormous spread of 300 sq ft on sail area. Crew is usually 3 with one on trapeze. Main and jib but no spinnaker. Masts are based on the Star class section. It is an excellent light air boat that fits well the light and variable breezes we have in the summertime.

So what other classes are only found at one club?

Rod
Annapolis MD
USA

Post by Ed » Sun Aug 13, 2006 9:47 am

I am sure there are many....

in fact it seems to me that good support at one club is normally the best way to make sure that a class survives longer term.

In this country the Jollyboat was sailed at a wide range of clubs all over the place, but when the class association died in 70s all the boats seemed to disappear into garages, storage or died. On the other hand at Port Melbourne Yacht Club in Australia, the class still thrives (even building new boats)....but no where else!

It amuses me that they still hold 'worlds' and 'nats' even though they have the only boats that turn up.

cheers

eib

pegasus · Post by **pegasus** » Sun Aug 13, 2006 10:27 am

Theres a Uffa Fox design still being sailed and raced i think in looe in cornwall unfortuatly i cant remeber which type it is but the all sail with red sails and look very nice if i remeber right i think it was a 1962 design but that is a bit of a long shot!

Greg

Post by **stu** » Sun Aug 13, 2006 11:37 am

Well, staying in Cornwall, there is the fowey river boat. There's also a class who's name slips my mind that is raced in St Mawes, Fowey and the Solent?

DRLee · Post by **DRLee** » Sun Aug 13, 2006 2:30 pm

One club classes? How about the Seafly, and more recently the Hornet, both still found racing in reasonable numbers at Starcross.

The class raced at Looe is the Redwing and there are also a few out at Tenby, Wales. The Fowey keelboat class is the Troy, but there is also the Sunbeam raced on the Fal and the Solent.

pegasus · Post by **pegasus** » Sun Aug 13, 2006 8:11 pm

Very impressed DRLee your right i remeber now t is the redwing!

DRLee · Post by **DRLee** » Sun Aug 13, 2006 10:18 pm

I think the Redwing was quite popular in the Westcountry during the 1960s and there were definitely also fleets on the Teign and the Exe. My father still grumbles about when they changed their rules to allow a wood centreboard in place of the heavy metal ones, but their handicap remained unchanged (very familiar story....)

I was at Restronguet a few years ago and stumbled across the launch of a new Sunbeam keelboat, the first built for over 20(?) years. She was an absolutely stunning piece of woodwork, but wonder how much she cost???

Rod · Post by **Rod** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 3:37 am

Were'nt the Bembridge Redwings a keelboat? Don't the Hornets have some presence on the Continent which would eliminate them as a one club class. The Seafly seems to fit the bill. DavidH has mentioned the Harrier singlehanded dinghy which seems to have congregated at one club. There is the double planker 19' Payne Mortlock canoe which is only sailed at the Australian Brighton and Seacliff YC. Didn't reaalize there were new Jollyboats being built in Australia. Wood or glass?

Here in the USA, I will add the Duster class. Sailed their nationals in my college years because I was dating someone who grew up sailing them. Fourteen feet long, pram bow, over 100 square foot sail stepped just inches from the bow. I never had the terror of taking one downwind in a blow. Designed by one of the Lippincotts and popular in the lakes and rivers of New Jersey. I gather you can find them only in one lake in the Poconos now.

Rod
Annapolis MD
USA

JimC · Post by **JimC** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 6:34 am

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Rod
Were'nt the Bembridge Redwings a keelboat? <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Yes, but different Redwing. This one is a clinker built heavyish dinghy sailed in the South West.

You get classes that only settle in one place, and you also get a phenomenum where a class declines and yet stays popular at one club or a few clubs even when its long disappeared elsewhere and the surviving boats congregate. When you travel round the country to open events you'll often spot loads of a class somewhere that you rarely see anywhere else you go.

Post by **Rupert** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 8:04 am

The Mercury at Bristol Avon...though that appears to have died there, too, now, with Bob Fireballing.
Way back when, classes like the St Mawes one design, built for one place, were common. Then, mainly post war, National classes sprung up, with people travelling to sail. Why some classes designed for national popularity, such as the Swordfish, shrank back to one area, rather than disappearing completely when "superceeded", is strange. But good for the cvrda!
With increasing fuel prices, will we go back to local classes?

Post by **roger** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 8:47 am

Lymington Pram just started making them in plastic. They are a great half decked day boat. Clinker built and very seaworthy. In the days before planing boats were common my dad and his friend used to take these things out to Hurst narrows and surf the tide race,only capsized one once and she was washed up on Milford beach next day and recovered.
The Avon/ west wight/ Bembridge scow as a one area boat.
If any one wants a sreious project my father has a Lymington pram in the garden in need of lots of TLC

charlespsmith · Post by **charlespsmith** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 10:08 am

Rod hi

I can think of several still sailing, some of them in smallish numbers but still about:

Twinkle Twelves and 10s at Burnham, Overy Staithe. Nice little clinker boats.
Sea View One Designs - another nice clinker 12 footer, every sail different, at Seaview on the Isle of Wight
St Mawes One Designs - a bigger boat at 16 feet
Poole Ab Dinghies - a child's boat at Parkstone Yacht Club
Operas - clinker and decked, each named after an opera - at Hoylake
Brightlingsea One Designs - another clinker boat big at 18'0 mostly at Colne YC
Hamble Stars - no longer at their old home on the Hamble but now at Erith YC in Kent. Unusual deisgns combining clinker with a chine.
Norfolk One Designs another nice clinker boat at 14'0 mostly at the Norfolk Broads YC
Waldringfield Dragonfly one of O'Brien Kennedy's 14 footers at Waldringfield SC
West Kirby Stars another of these clinker one designs at 15'6 - also at West Kirby SC
Weymouth Falcon a big-ish clinker boat - just a few remaining at Weymouth SC. One was once sunk by a practise torpedo
Wivenhoe One Designs - designed locally - about sixteen still around at Wivenhoe
and of course the Myths - at Trearrdur Bay Sailing Club - one more of Morgan Giles boats at 14'0 in clinker

There are more of course some of which are sailed by just two or three clubs or mostly in their home area although individual boats are scattered about Salcombe Yawls for example. And yes there are two Redwings - the dinghy is largely a West Country Boat tho one East coast club is said to have some. The other Redwing is the one that was sailed experimentally with a windmill - and the very boat is in the classic Boat Museum at Newport on the IOW complete with windmill!

And we ought to include the MIGHTY Thames A Raters - only at two clubs and only on the Thames - but brother what a sight!

If you want the details the piece in Dingy Sailing Magazine of Jan/Feb this year has them

Cheers
Charles

Garry R · Post by **Garry R** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 10:51 am

The Clippers at Strangford Lough Yacht Club are clinker built and only a few remain but they are lovely boats - I was lucky to sail one in my youth. Rivers and Glens are pretty exclusive to that club as well but none of the above are dinghies - although the Clipper is the smallest.

Brian E. Evans · Post by **Brian E. Evans** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 6:06 am

Many, too many years ago I used to sail at Ullapool in scotland, they used to have a weekend race with what I believed was a Loch long one design, it was a carvel built boat without a centreboard and containing bags of beach sand for ballast. I remember you were not supposed to move these bags, however the locals would say "ye cannae get them wet" so we would move them out of the water to the high side of the boat. This was an interesting exercise when a lot of tacking was involved. I wonder now if any of these boats are left?

Duncan · Post by **Duncan** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 7:53 pm

hello everyone