Okay.... there are several classes it COULD be but - the deep forefoot, the hard chine and that long run aft (do I detect a hint of hollow in there too) all shout out 'Bill O'Brien'.
I may of course be very wrong and way of the mark - in which case I'll stay schtum and say no more on the subject!!!
But.....what else could it be? The hull may have been painted but a quick look at the mast suggests a different vintage.
Will this be heading south and east to frensham pond?
Am VERY tempted to head up to Warwickshire and run a tape measure over this - just to satisfy own curiosity of course......
The logo on the sails are very distinctive and look like a cousin to the Phantom. Was there ever a double handed version of the Phantom?
The sail number was a pink seven it could go nicely with your Unit!
Knew I had a reference to them somewhere - Charles Smith has the Barracuda lsited on his tradboat site, under sail markings. No other information, though.
It is a nice shape though. Apart from the tradboat reference, I can find no info on barracudas. Does anyone know anything of the history and why they never made it?
David, I picked up on ebay recently an AYRS publication which features an article by Bill O'Brien about designing the Daring. If you don't have it already, would you like me to copy it and post it to you?
I'm not sure where it is written, Nick, so glad you included it.
I've no scanner I'm afraid, David - if you PM me your address, I'll try and copy it this week and send it.
I couldn't make it to the show, I'm afraid - which old boat do you mean? If you mean the one I used to own, she was 533 from 1962, but Mark may have found an older one, as I'm not sure what was there!