Victory Class racing yacht for restoration at Portsmouth

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Victory Class keelboat free for restoration

Victory Class keelboat free for restoration Victory Class keelboat

Victory Class keelboats

This super little Victory Class keelboat ideal for racing and daysailing is available for restoration – and from the class website it seems there may be one or two others available on a similar basis.

These photographs were taken on a recent trip to Portsmouth by Julie, who knows a nice boat when she sees one. Thanks Julie! My spies are everywhere…

A trip to Seaview to see the Sea View One Design racing dinghies

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Sea View One Design racing dinghies

Sea View One Design racing dinghies Sea View One Design racing dinghies Sea View One Design racing dinghies

Sea View One Design racing dinghies Sea View One Design racing dinghies Sea View One Design racing dinghies

Sea View One Design racing dinghies

Julie took these shots of Sea View One-Design dinghies at the village of Seaview on the Isle of Wight during a week’s holiday last week.

The boats are built by the local family firm of V A Warren & Son, and apparently there are about 200 now in existence, and as many as 198 sailed past the local Sea View Yacht Club for the class’s 75th aniversary. The class was founded in 1931.

I knew of their existence but hadn’t realised there were so very many of them – this is a seriously impressive local racing class.

The class has a website that’s currently in development and I look forward to reading more about these boats some time.

I should add that Seaview is famous for a few other things too, including the Mermaid keelboat class, and also as a launching pad for Operation Overlord – the invasion of France and the beginning of the big fightback to rid Europe of the blight of Nazism. Now that’s something well worth knowing about too.

sea view operation overlord memorial

Ian Proctor remembered at the Maritime Museum Cornwall

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Ian Proctor

Ian Proctor. His achievement in designing popular small sailing boats was recognised by the design establishment

The National Maritime Museum in Cornwall is staging an exhibition celebrating the work of outstanding 20th Century small sailing boat designer Ian Proctor. I’m delighted, as there can’t be many small boat sailors in the UK who haven’t sailed at least one of his boats – my own family sail a Minisail and a Prelude, and love them both even if their little hearts are plastic.

Here’s the NMM’s press release outlining some of Proctor’s outstanding achievements:

‘The life of Ian Proctor and his outstanding designs will be celebrated this autumn at the Maritime Museum in Falmouth.

‘From September 17, find out more about this accomplished yachtsman and prolific designer in the Museum’s Study Boat Area. Check out a state of the art brand new Topper dinghy on show, loaned to the Museum by Topper International, and the first fibre glass International Tempest, Tempestuous.

‘Ian Proctor’s innovative designs and ideas modernised the whole concept of small boat sailing, making a vital contribution to the popularisation of the sport. He designed over 100 different boats and was a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a Royal Designer for Industry.

‘Andy Wyke, Boat Collection Manager at the Museum, explained: “I chose Proctor because Continue reading “Ian Proctor remembered at the Maritime Museum Cornwall”