The Cadet: The boat that started the youth revolution.

At Number 9 in the Dinghy Sailing Magazine List of Top Ten English Dinghy Designs, is a boat that was a product of a truly ‘visionary’ sailor. After his wartime service had ended, Group Captain Haylock was appointed Editor of Yachting World magazine, where he was able to indulge in his passion for sailing and his belief in youth. He also had a theory that ‘the best way to teach sailing was to teach people how to race and the best time to teach them was when they were young’. To turn this into a reality, young people would need to have a boat of their own, quite a revolutionary idea, at a time when the choice of dinghies even for adults, was strictly limited.

Haycock was also involved in setting up the Class Association for the new Merlin dinghy and at this time he came into contact with Jack Holt. Jack was commissioned, by Yachting World, to design a boat that could be home built in the newly available ‘plywood’. The design criteria was challenging, for the boat would have a modern Bermudan rig complete with a spinnaker. The size and layout of the dinghy would make it a complete package, for bringing the 8 to 18 year olds into dinghy racing.

The prototype Cadet was launched onto the Thames in 1947, where it created a sensation in the dinghy sailing world. With its bow transom lifted clear of the waterline (when most other boats of the day still had plumb bows) and an easy to home build hull, thanks to the chine angle remaining constant throughout the length of the boat, Haycock’s vision had become a real and exciting development. Following a chance meeting with Dusty Pollock of Bell Woodworking, kits for home construction were developed, which helped the rapid spread of the class across the country. Within ten years the fully framed ‘Mark 1’ boats were being superseded by the newer Mark II versions, where the frames and the inflatable buoyancy bags were dropped in favour of a cleaner layout, with the buoyancy built into the tanks. The class has carefully managed further developments in construction and deck layout, with the Mark IV boats of today being constructed exclusively in GRP.  This approach to keeping the boat up to date, has kept the Cadet in line with the technical developments and practices, found in the top class adult dinghy fleets.

By the mid 1950s, the number of boats wanting to compete at the National Championships held at the Royal Corinthian at Burnham on Crouch, were in excess of the 100 mark. This created something of a problem for the hard pressed shore parties to launch and recover on the RCYC slipway. One famous championship in the mid 1960s attracted a huge fleet of 160 boats, a level of support that continues through into today as the 2007 Nationals saw a bumper 162 boat fleet.

The success of the Cadet soon spread far and wide, so that by the late 1960s, the Cadet Class went international, with fleets in such diverse locations as the Eastern Bloc countries and South America. As the Cadet goes from strength to strength, the roll call of top class dinghy sailors who have sharpened their skills in the boat continues to grow, with an impressive list of past and present Olympic and top International competitors being ex-Cadet sailors.

More recently, the Cadet has come under pressure from skiff based youth training boats. However, for many the original concept of teaching the importance of all points of sailing, (such as being able to develop the tactics of running dead down wind) is still as important as ever. In this respect, the Cadet by offering safe, top class international competition, is still the boat for youth and as such, fully deserves its inclusion in the Top Ten list.

The Kestrel: A heart of glass.

The Kestrel will be for many readers, a surprise inclusion at Number 8 in the Top Ten list of significant British dinghy designs. Yet the importance of this 1955 design from the drawing board of Ian Proctor cannot be overlooked. It may have been Jack Holt who was driven by the desire to make dinghy sailing a sport accessible to all, but it was Ian Proctor with his analytical and technical mindset, who would change the nature of the boats we sail.

Until the arrival of the Kestrel, all dinghies, whether they were the dominant development classes, or the newer one designs, all had one thing in common they were all made of wood and required considerable ‘craftsman’ man hours (even the hot moulded Fairey boats) to complete. Always innovative, Ian knew that to allow sailing to grow as a popular sport, boat construction needed to become a quicker, more simplified manufacturing process. Only by making boats on an assembly line, could they be turned out quickly and cheaply to become an item that everyone could own.

By the mid 1950s, there were few boats that had been constructed from the new material - ‘fibre glass’, (a term in use at the time; we now use the abbreviation GRP) and the results had not been successful. Ian reasoned that many of the underlying problems lay in the basic shape of the boat, which needed to reflect the very different characteristics GRP had when compared to wood. His answer was to design the Kestrel, which right from the outset was intended for GRP construction.

For the hull sections, Ian drew on his existing Merlin designs, giving the new boat a vee shaped bow that flared out into a powerful, round bilged hull under the mast. The run aft was long, flat and straight to aid planning, a concept that he would use to great effect the following year with his Mark IX Merlin. The use of GRP with those curved sections gave the hull considerable strength and a wonderfully smooth, regular finish. Ian gave the Kestrel a powerful rig, with the intention that the new boat would be ‘as fast as a Merlin’. Jack Chippendale built the first few boats in wood, so that the final layout could be sorted, then boat builder JM Gmach commenced the process of laying up the moulded hull and deck. At the time, this was ground breaking technology, shown by a glass lay up that saw the transom 16mm thick, whilst the decks were so robust, they could be stood on without deforming!!

Across the sport there was some initial resistance to the use of the new material, as sailors said that it made boats too heavy and they lacked stiffness. Ian Proctor had been right, the answer lay in getting the shape right and eventually the success of the Kestrel meant that more and more designs would change their rules to allow construction in GRP.

Since those early days, build techniques for dinghies have continued to develop, to the point that today, a ‘glass fibre’ built boat might actually be the poor relation to those constructed of FRP, Carbon or even roto-moulded.  Yet, the boat that started the process off, the Kestrel is anything but a poor relation. A Phil Morrison revamp of the layout plus a new builder in Hartley Laminates, means that 50 years on the Kestrel is still a popular choice for the ‘club’ racer. Some of its popularity may be due to the fact, that the boat is an acknowledged weight carrier, when other classes are increasingly being dominated by lightweight crews. Another factor could be the powerful rig, which gives the boat a healthy performance upwind, whilst the generous waterline length gives good downwind speed. Maybe, it is the ease of construction that allows a lot of boat to be built at a competitive price the basic rationale behind Ian Proctor’s thinking, keeping the boat a popular choice today.

The British Moth:

At 7^th place in the Dinghy Sailing Magazine list of significant British dinghy designs is another surprise. Today, there are few sailors who are aware that the Moth class originated in the USA during 1930, but its presence in the UK is due to the efforts of an ardent group of London based sailors. Fed up with the confines of the Regents Park Lake, they leased the Welsh Harp reservoir. After establishing the first sailing club on the water - Brent SC, the group required a single handed dinghy to sail. They set about importing an American lake boat - a Moth; however, they found it unsuitable for their requirements. A member of the group, Sidney Cheverton, used the Moth hull as a baseline and produced a new design for a hard chined 11ft dinghy that initially was known as the Brent One Design. As interest grew in the Class, the name changed to the ‘British Moth’ and a classic was born!

By 1932 the first boats were built, but in these pre-ply days, the use of 5/16” (6mm) mahogany planks and a small sail, meant that the heavy boats were somewhat underpowered. Nevertheless, the class continued to grow with most of the boats based at Welsh Harp. Post war the situation changed dramatically. With the advent of the lightweight plywood, the British Moth was a boat that could be easily and cheaply constructed. It was one of the first kits offered by Bell Woodworking, a factor that undoubtedly helped to spread the popularity of the class across the country. Although within the one design rules, in true Moth style, innovation was a key part of the class which produced beautifully built boats made from lightweight aluminium.  Another top sailor who took a long look at the class was Jack Holt and if it had not been for an order book full with National 12s and Merlins, Jack might well have started building them himself.

The simple format of the British Moth may well have influenced Jack, as in 1956 he designed his own single hander - the Solo, which soon proved itself to be a truly able performer, both at inland venues and out on the sea. The British Moth had to move aside somewhat for the new arrival, but continued to successfully occupy its own niche where the sailing area was tight and restricted. The 1970s saw a far harder challenge, as boats such as the Laser and Topper started to dominate the single handed sailing scene. The British Moth responded with both rig changes and hull weight reductions, but at this time it was sailing itself that was changing. The big modern inland open water clubs, were increasingly drawing support from the older, traditional river locations and as these clubs withered away, so did the support base for the class. By the late 1980s, growth had ceased and the British Moth seemed to be facing a very uncertain future.

However, in an example setting move for other failing classes, the British Moth Association revitalised itself with new members, persuaded top designer Ian Howlett to revisit the hull rules and within a few years saw a doubling of boats actively sailing. Using modern materials for hull and rig, the British Moth, with its high aspect main set on a tender hull, showed that it could excel in the shifty conditions so often found at our smaller venues. Although at first sight the design might seem dated the boat receives enough support from the Class Association to drive the process of development that keeps the British Moth up to date.

So, if you sail a Solo or Supernova, a Phantom or a flying Foiler, these boats along with all our modern singlehanders, have something in their parentage, of a boat that was designed 77 years ago and is  active today, which makes it worthy of inclusion in our top ten listing.

The Mirror:

Number 5 in the Dinghy Sailing Magazine list of best British dinghy designs is a boat that really does deserve the title ‘ubiquitous’! There can be very few sailors, on a global basis, who do not know of the Mirror dinghy; with it’s tell tale red sails. Yet the original and highly innovative concept of the boat didn’t come from a dinghy designer, instead it was the brainchild of Barry Bucknell, the presenter credited with bringing programmes on DIY to the TV. In 1962, Barry wanted to make a small family boat, yet was aware that even with kit construction, the woodworking skills needed to complete a boat would be beyond many home builders. He then looked at a system already in use for building canoes, where the panel seams were stitched together with copper wire, before being sealed over with glass fibre tape and resin. He drew up the lines for his boat, and then built the prototype using the ‘stitch and glue’ method. The construction technique worked well, though the basic hull design needed some additional work. Barry then had the good fortune to team up with Jack Holt, who took the basic concept, then worked his own design magic onto it. In doing so Jack drew heavily from his experiences with both the Cadet and the Heron.

Like the Cadet, the revised hull design was given a pronounced raised rocker line forward, which lifted the bow transom clear of the water. The generous volume of the hull meant that the boat would carry adults as well as children and with plentiful built in buoyancy, the notion was that people with little idea of the water could build their own boat, then learn to sail it. The sail plan was kept simple, with a gaff rig keeping the spar lengths short enough to allow wood to be used. For the sailors who wanted to race, the Mirror would carry a spinnaker.

The completed Bucknell/Holt boat was then adopted by the Daily Mirror, in those days known very much as a ‘Red Top’ newspaper, due to the colour of their Header on the front page. Christened the ‘Mirror’, the boat too became a ‘red top’ as the suggestion that red sails should be used was quickly adopted.

Launched at the 1963 London Boat Show, in conjunction with Bell Woodworking, who would supply the boat in kit form, the Mirror was the boat that “anyone can build” – and soon everyone did! Bucknell brought his considerable ‘DIY for the everyman’ experience to the instructions, if these were followed, then the result, for even a novice builder was the completion of a small boat that sailed well, yet could be roof topped on almost any family sized car.

Little wonder then that the class blossomed, with boats being built all around world. As the numbers of boats being built continued to grow, the demands of running such a busy Class saw the Mirror Group starting to step back from the administration and by 1971, the Mirror Association  had became completely independent.

With the Mirror now a firm favourite at so many sailing clubs, the RYA adopted the boat as a formal ‘Junior’ class, whilst in 1989 full International status was granted to the boat by the IYRU (ISAF). Although a strict one design, the Association have been very forward looking in sponsoring a number of developments that have maintained the boat’s appeal in the face of more modern designs. Recently, the rules covering the rig have been relaxed to allow the change to a full Bermudan rig. Although the hull shape remains the same, designer Phil Morrison was given the brief to redesign the interior, with these two changes revitalising the boat’s appeal and placing it firmly back in place as a top favourite.

So this then is the Mirror, a small boat, but one with a big following. The class has seen some great names in it’s ranks, from Neal McDonald, to Ian Pinnel, Olympic medal winner Ian Walker, through to the stars of today with sailors such as Ed Fitzgerald and Lucy McGregor and with the new rig bringing in yet more sailors, the Mirror is a design that clearly justifies inclusion in the ‘Top UK designs’ list.

The GP14. Putting the General into ‘general purpose’.

At Haylock’s instigation, Yachting World published a call for designers to submit plans for a multi purpose dinghy that would be stable and seaworthy, yet fast enough to offer competitive and exciting racing. The boat would have to be light enough  to make for easy handling on and off a trailer and would need to be capable of being rowed or of being driven by an outboard motor and to cap it all, would have to be simple enough to allow for home construction from a kit of parts. This requirement for a single boat that could fill so many roles was so new that none of the designs submitted were acceptable. One of the best designs had come from Jack Holt, who at Haylock’s request increased the freeboard of his planned 14 ft dinghy. As with the Cadet, the design Jack finally settled on was simple, but remarkably effective. Again, it utilised a single hard chine hull that would offer a high degree of initial stability, yet the simple ‘box’ approach to the hull form meant that the boat could be easily constructed by an amateur builder in plywood. The other advantage of the Holt design was that it resulted in a large cockpit, that Jack equipped with seats, a thwart and floorboards!

When being used as a family boat, Jack envisaged that the boat would just be sailed with main and jib, for racing however, a large overlapping genoa and a spinnaker would help provide an exciting level of performance. Bell Woodworking was approached to build a prototype and at the end of 1949, the new boat was launched down on the Hamble and immediately showed itself to be both stable yet fast. Even as Bell’s were working on developing the home build kit for the new boat, in Wales, Dovey Sailing Club were leading the way in adopting the new class,

The boat had originally been known as the ‘general purpose 14 ft dinghy’ but this was soon shorted to the ‘GP14’, a title that says everything about what the boat can do. The support given to the new boat by the club at Dovey SC was recognized by the sail insignia for the new class incorporating one of the legendary bells of Aberdovey. In the years following the formation of the GP14 Class Association in 1951 the numbers of boats being built grew steadily both in the UK and internationally. Throughout its history, the GP14 Association have followed a path of steady yet conservative development, that has allowed wooden boats to remain competitive with more modern versions constructed in GRP. In more recent years the interior has undergone a process of modernization and with hulls now constructed from FRP, the class offers a modern, up to date boat, despite the design being 60 years old in 2009.

In sailing clubs around the world, the GP14 of today still offers a family friendly boat, yet one known for its tactically close and exciting racing. The class has been the starting point for many top class sailors such as Eddie Warden-Owen, Richard Estaugh and Ellen MacArthur. There are now many classes that claim to be ‘multi role’ but it is the GP14 that led the development of ‘general purpose’ sailing, a position that many still feel it still holds today.

The Firefly. Starting the one design movement with style

As Dinghy Sailing Magazine’s list of best British dinghy designs reaches the top 3, it is clear that the standards set by boats within the list are incredibly high. This is clearly illustrated by the boat in 3^rd place, which despite a design that had its roots back in pre war Britain, has a set of credentials that few modern boats will ever match.

It was back in 1938, when dinghy sailors based at the Cambridge University Cruising Club, wanted to expand their fleet with a boat that was less tender than the ‘Uffa King’ National 12 design that was available at the time. They approached Uffa Fox with a request for a more sedate hull form, with the resulting plans entitled the ‘Sea Swallow’. Before any boats could be built war broke out and any further developments in dinghy building were put on hold for the next 6 years.  

Once the war ended, the RYA started looking to the future and in 1946, called for the development a new 12ft one design dinghy. The pragmatic Uffa Fox simply resurrected the Sea Swallow plans, which were passed onto the Fairey Aviation Company at Hamble. Faireys were in the process of moving from aircraft production into boat building, and suggested using their hot moulded ply construction techniques for the hulls. The plans were renamed after one of Faireys most successful aircraft - the Firefly and a modern classic was born.

Uffa’s design for the Firefly was beamier at the waterline than the current National 12s, with a long run aft into a fairly narrow and rounded transom. To help maintain stability, a low aspect rig was used that was based around a novel idea of an aluminium mainmast, finished off with a wooden top section. Overall, with the completed hulls being formed of three layers of hot moulded veneer, the result was a light and very smooth finish. The Firefly looked every inch a modern boat, (bear in mind, that most of the other dinghies of the day were still constructed of planks, clench nailed to internal ribs) although a shortage of plywood resulted in some Fireflies being finished off with aluminium decks!  

In 1948, the new class received the best possible boost, when the Firefly was chosen as the single handed dinghy for the Olympic Regatta at Torquay.  Nearly 200 British top helms either bought or borrowed boats so that they could compete for selection, with many National 12 sailors changing classes for the event. In a country still ruled by rationing, extra petrol coupons were made available for Firefly sailors to compete in regional events, which helped promote the class around the UK.  More importantly, once the Games were over, many of the boats used for the event, were sold off to colleges, which confirmed the Firefly, as the best choice for the growing university team racing scene.

Since those early days, the Firefly has enjoyed a number of changes, both cosmetic and structural, to the interior and deck layout, but the hull remains very much the same. Due to the strength and longevity of the original Fairey construction, older hulls are still capable of being renovated, are raced competitively on the Championship circuit. Indeed, one of the 1948 Olympic boats, which has been fully restored, came within a whisker of winning the 2008 National Championships, when the class returned once again to Torquay.

The Firefly has many claims to fame including: the first ‘SMOD’, an Olympic class and a superb platform for team racing. The boat is a natural born survivor, which still attracts a young and vibrant following even today. Therefore, the Firefly is fully deserving of its place in the top designs list.

14s’s really are forever.

In Dinghy Sailing Magazine’s list of top UK dinghy designs we have now reached the runners up spot. In doing so we are making an exception to the rule that the competition only sought out individual designs.

With this in mind, 2^nd place is awarded to the whole of the International 14 Class. The foundations of the International 14 Class reach back to the very early days of dinghy racing where the first examples differed little to the working boats of the day. The post war years of the 1920s, saw a number of boats built specifically for racing. Under the parentage of the YRA (the forerunner of the RYA) these boats formed the National 14 Class. In 1927an application was made to the IYRU (now ISAF) for International status. Once granted the Class was renamed the International 14 and immediately set about changing the face of dinghy sailing forever. Today it is hard to imagine a time when dinghies did not plane properly, but until 1928 that was indeed the case. In that year, with the specific intention of creating a planning hull form to outdate all previously built 14s, Uffa Fox designed Avenger. In comparison to the very rounded hull shapes of the day, Avenger’s hull lines showed a deep vee in the first third of the hull, flattening out into a firm and fairly flat run aft to the transom. It was this radical change in the hull form which created the dynamic ‘lift’ that enabled Avenger to plane away to success and a place in the history books.

For the next decade, designs by Uffa Fox led class development; however, just before competitive racing was suspended in 1939, the first Jack Holt boats were beginning to make an appearance. However, Uffa Fox designs still had one more claim to fame, when their hulls were hot moulded by Fairey Marine, who had perfected the build technique with the Firefly. In the 1950s the 14s were at the forefront of dinghy development as hull shapes got flatter and more powerful. Ian Proctor added 14’s to his list of development class design successes; however, it was probably Austin Farrar who did most to accelerate the pace of hull development.

Austin Farrar designed 14s had a run of wins in the prestigious Prince of Wales Cup leading the way for other designers to move the class forward. Their developments tended towards the incremental rather than the revolutionary, but once the 14s adopted twin trapezes and asymmetric spinnakers, another leap forward in hull design was called for. Designers such as Ian Howlett and Phil Morrison were soon developing hulls that made the best use of the power from the new rig layouts. Further rule changes which allowed high aspect rigs and crew racks, would again test the skills of the designers as hulls moved to the extreme ‘leading edge’ of dinghy design. The International 14 is a Class rich in history and represents the peak of technical and design innovation, therefore worthy of its place at Number 2 in the Top Ten List.

The 505 – Simply the best.

The countdown of Dinghy Sailing Magazine’s list of top UK dinghy designs, reaches its climax this month with the 505 proudly taking the Number 1 spot.

Over the last ten months UK dinghy designs have faced tough competition, and in compiling this list any one of the boats chosen to date, could easily have been replaced by other equally deserving dinghies. Each of the boats that were finally chosen clearly had an extra special ‘something’, which lifted them above the rest.  Right from the outset when the list was first announced, the Editorial Team at Dinghy Sailing Magazine knew that the final selection was bound to be controversial. This is reflected in the fact that over the course of the series, the monthly postbag has contained many letters and emails suggesting boats, which our readers felt were worthy of inclusion. Please be assured that careful consideration was given to all the suggestions offered by those who contacted the magazine.

All of the boats featured in the series are excellent, but when it came to choosing the top design there can be little in the way of dissent. The class chosen to top the list really does represent the very best in dinghy design. A famous designer (involved with Concorde no less), once said that sometimes a design was so ‘right’ that it was immediately apparent that further development would add little to the quality of the original. He then went on to quote the Comet Airliner, the Spitfire and the E-Type Jaguar.  In dinghy terms, there are very few designs that could be described in this way. The most noticeable of these is the Flying Dutchman/Contender shape (for they share remarkable similarities) but as both dinghies are from foreign designers they fall outside of the terms of this list.

The other design is so unique and recognisable that it really does stand head and shoulders above the rest!

The John Westell design that became the 505, is as eye catching as it is fast, whether it is thrashing around a windy open water Championship racecourse, or ghosting along in the lightest of  zephyrs at an inland lake location.

John was already a dinghy racer of note, reaching the final qualifying Trials for the dinghy slot at the 1948 Olympic Regatta. In 1952, he started work on a design for a boat to compete in the 1953 IYRU Dinghy Trials at La Baule. At 18ft, his first boat was considered quite long for a dinghy. However, from the overall length perspective John’s design was in line with the ideas of the time for performance dinghy design.

The main feature of the Westell design, (which at the time was called the Coronet), was the hull form which included topsides, that flared out to create a hull with a narrow waterline, but a wide overall beam. In exploring this feature, John drew on the experience of Austin Farrar, who in the year before had designed a beamy International 14. Austin had designed the interior of his boat so that the cold moulded sidetanks rolled upwards and outwards, thus helping to extend the beam. The additional width of the sidetanks provided a comfortable platform for the crew to hike out from.  At the same time, the flared hull shape proved effective at deflecting the spray and water downwards and outwards (remember, this was still in the days before self bailers). The development was seen as too radical by many within the International 14s and following a class wide vote, was outlawed.

John utilised Austin’s hull development to great effect on the Coronet, with the boat being one of the stars of the IYRU Dinghy Trials. From a purely performance viewpoint, the Coronet could well have been considered the winner of the event. Instead, the IYRU chose to expand the International Status of the Flying Dutchman, a boat that has enjoyed a long and glorious career as the Olympic performance dinghy.

Another entrant to the Trials was a French dinghy - the Caneton. The backers of this boat were so impressed with the Coronet that they approached John Westell requesting that he modify his design to suit the French boat’s rules.

All John had to do was reduce the hull length to 16ft 6”, or 5.05 metres, lighten the hull weight and trim the sail area down to a more manageable size. John also revised the Coronets hull lines, softening some of the more angular flare into a more sweepingly curvaceous shape. This resulted in an initial design that was very different to any of the other performance boats of the day. John’s final design had underwater sections that were markedly flatter and less rockered than most conventional dinghies of that era. Above the waterline, the flared hull sections which gave the boat the appearance of having an extended gunwale, resulted in a considerable hollow in the topsides, a design feature that many classes were quick to legislate against.  The new line drawings were presented to the French Caneton Association, who were so enthusiastic about the new boat that they adopted it before the first boat had been completed.  Building on this presence in France, the 505 started its early life with a strong international presence and by 1955 the IYRU granted the class International Status.

The very early boats were made from wood, but soon Fairey Marine started to use the same build techniques developed for the Firefly, to hot mould hulls for the 505. The complex hull shape with curves running in two planes, was an early candidate for GRP construction and it was not long before the first boats were being constructed using this material.  Since then, the 505 Class had been involved in a process of continuous but conservative updating, with hulls being laid up from epoxy, kevlar and carbon fibre. The rig too has developed over time, with the most recent change being the introduction of a much larger spinnaker.

In the UK, the Class has suffered in the face of the ‘buy it off the shelf’ skiff designs, however on a worldwide basis, the 505 continues to represent the pinnacle of dinghy sailing outside of the Olympic Classes.  There are many sailors who feel that the boat is so demanding in respect of both technical knowledge and tactical sailing ability, that the 505 should have been given the opportunity to shine as an Olympic Class.

Today, there are skiff designs that are faster, but these have yet to answer the questions of durability and longevity. However, the 505, with a hull design that has remained the same and  will continue to do so, has already proven to the dinghy world that it has been the best in the past, is the best now and will continue to be the best in the future.

That is why the 505 is the Top Boat in the Dinghy Sailing Magazine list of top UK designs.

It is, ‘Simply the best’.