The Classic and Vintage Racing Dinghy Association races and cares for old racing dingies, organises meetings, encourages dinghy racing classes to run vintage wings and generally does what it can to enable people to see the old boats out on the water.
Essentially an Internet organisation, it also provides support and advice through a forum and meetings.
Membership is very relaxed, says the secretary: join the on-line forum and when you turn up at a meeting somebody will eventually extract five quid towards running the website.
The photograph below is from their latest event at Baltic Wharf, Bristol just a few days ago as I write on the 25th November. The turnout included two sixty year old Merlins, number 6 and the recently restored 36 – Ian Procter’s first Merlin and the boat that inspired him to design many others and develop aluminium spars.
It was also the first outing for a just-restored Unit and there were other regulars including a fine wooden International Canoe, various designs of Finn and Merlin, and various old boats representing many of the well known current classes – and there would have been more but for forecast strong winds that put off some people with rather more delicate boats.
racing dinghy, sailboat, boat restoration