Baltic Wharf, 25th November 2006

Classic and Vintage Racing Dinghy Association at Baltic Wharf

19 classic and vintage dinghies braved the horrendous weather forecast to compete at the Classic and Vintage Racing Dinghy Association (www.cvrda.org) meeting on the docks in Bristol on Saturday 25th November.

Boats attending included Fireflies, GP14, Enterprise, Mirrors, OK, Solos, Finns, a 1970’s Merlin Rocket, 1940’s vintage Merlins, Jack Holt’s first glued clinker Merlin Rocket and 2 very unusual singlehanded sliding seat craft. Ed Bremner’s International Canoe K41, complete with hard chine hull and soft sail looked very different to a modern Canoe, though still showed a similar tendency to fall over. Unit No7, on her 1st outing following restoration by “lost classes” author David Henshall (DSM May 2006) was the picture of 1960’s design experimentation. Both sailed beautifully and looked wonderful in the close confines of the docks.

The 1st race to the top of the harbour (past the Great Britain and Matthew) and back saw the oldest boat in the fleet, Merlin 6, with Cotton sails, sailed by Roger Deveraux and Chris Mulholland, win easily on handicap. The next race was a closer affair on a short course, with David Rollinson’s OK beating Rupert Whelan’s Solo and Peter Vinton’s Finn into 2nd and 3rd places. The 3rd raced caused all the drama. Suddenly, the sky went dark, the hail started and a massive squall caused all but 2 boats to either capsize or seek sanctuary on the bank. The OK and the Solo finished the course, but sadly for them, the race officer was called away to help with the recovery of stranded craft, and quite rightly abandoned the race. John and Lyn Gardiner’s Vintage Merlin 36 suffered the only major damage, breaking her towering wooden mast.

Many thanks must go to Baltic Wharf Sailing Club for running such a good event, and especially to the rescue boat crews, who worked hard and skilfully to ensure all sailors and boats returned safely to the shore.

1st David Rollinson OK
2nd Peter Vinton Finn
3rd Rupert Whelan Solo
4th Roger Deveraux and Chris Mulholland Merlin 6
5th Chris Barlow and Amy Barlow Merlin 507
6th Nigel Osborne Firefly

Pictures Courtesy of Pauline Hope/BearfaceMedia