50 Years of Dinghies
After leaving the Army in early 1948 I casually visited the Midland Sailing Club in Birmingham and became hooked!
I started sailing in “fireflies”, the firefly was a 12ft one design by ‘Uffa Fox’ designed just after the war hot molded by the Fairley Aircraft Company (later Fairly Marine).
Hot molding was a technique whereby several layers of veneer strips were shaped round a mould, glued together and then cooked in a large oven. The cooking process enabled the glue to penetrate well into the fibers of the veneer giving a smooth, attractive and very durable hull.
The firefly was selected as the single handed boat for the 1948 Olympics (although it has two sails), and became very popular – so much so that many people outside the (small) sailing fraternity tended to call all small boats “fireflies”
Fitting were simple in those days. Wire was galvanized steel, rope was hemp, shackles and other fittings were galvanized steel, brass or bronze.
Aluminum was just making an appearance the lower half of the firefly mast was aluminum tube – the upper tapered part was wood
Sailing clothes tended to be ex army shorts and shirts, and ex-army RAF ‘Mae Wests’ provided personal buoyancy. All dinghies has very little buoyancy and seamanship was an important factor in sailing and racing. Several clubs and classes had rules that if the mast touched the water then you retired, the rule was hardly necessary as if the boat was swamped there was very little prospect of continuing to race (we had no self bailers).
Competition in racing was very fierce but more ‘gentlemanly’ and less aggressive than today. Rule 1 was in the book was the ‘Fair Sailing Rule’ which was deliberately framed to prevent the “agro” that occurs among some of today’s sailors.
In the late 1940’s the editor of “Yachting World” seeing the success of the firefly decided to commission a range of dinghies that could be constructed at home from plywood. The first of these designs was the 10ft cadet, designed by Jack Holt for children, the design was so successful that it remained the standard children’s boat for over 20 years.
After the Cadet can the “General Purpose” 14ft (GP14), the car top (now the Heron) and the 16ft Hornet racing boat.
The impact of the plywood revolution lead to an explosion of new designs that continued throughout the 1950’s. Many of these have disappeared but the Enterprise (originally sponsored by the “News Chronicle” newspaper), Graduate, Solo, and Wayfarer are among those still flourishing. The Mirror came towards the end of this period in about 1963.
I sailed all of these designs at the time and build a few, but the firefly remained my first love until I moved up to an “International Fourteen” in the late 1950’s.
My Fourteen was Number 624 Star Shadow, designed and build by Roy Dann at Looe she was a good boat in light winds in winds above 15Knots she was difficult to manage. So that when we had strong sailing winds I frequently crewed for my colleague Esmond friend in his boat Number 655 “Genie”.
Genie, a good boat in strong winds was designed by Uffer Fox and Hot moulded by Fairly Marine.
The Photographs, taken in 1959, shows Esmond and I driving Genie on a close reach in a force 6, Notice the sailing Clothing!! No wet suits or expensive sailing clothing in those days!.
I gave up sailing the Fourteen when the trapeze was re-introduced in 1970, (all the older designs were quickly outclassed). The trapeze was first used by Peter Scott sailing his fourteen in 1935 – and then banned.
I moved to the Bala S.C in 1971, Bala had a big fleet of 15ft Albacores (another Uffa Fox Fairly Marine) and so I switched to the albacore. The albacore is a underrated design, quite a good sea boat, big enough for the family, but quite fast – particularly on a beam reach.
I continued to sail the albacore after moving to Gloucestershire and joined the Lydney Y.C in the mid 1970’s but decided that a more suitable boat was required for handling comfortable in the short steep seas of the estuary and Bristol channel.
After trying various boats including the wayfarer, I decided that the best all round boat for the conditions was the Y.W. dayboat, designed by George O’Brian Kennedy in 1949 she is strong and almost impossible to capsize ( to capsize in the open sea when you are alone is a serious matter and very different to a capsize in a narrow river surrounded by people and a safety boat) at the same time, when the wind blows and the sea’s rough the dayboat is no sluggard.
In my opinion, for sea going, the dayboat is the best multi purpose dinghy under 18ft her only drawback is her heavy weight,
I have sailed the daybaot in all conditions and many costal areas, on one occasion when sailing well of the south Cornish coast to the east of the manacles. I was investigated by a Customs boat who thought that I may be smuggling!.
Dinghies are not my only sailing interest ( I have sailed ocean-going yachts off all five continents) but dinghies remain a major factor in my sailing life, of course dinghy sailing today is different to how it was more that 50 years ago – not better – not worse but different.
Different boats different materials, different gear, but the comradeship, the thrills, the excitement haven’t change all.
George Price