Category: Racing sailing craft

Marcus Lewis launches Fowey River Dinghy number 58 – Penguin

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Marcus Lewis launches Fowey River Dinghy

Marcus Lewis launches Fowey River Dinghy Marcus Lewis launches Fowey River Dinghy Marcus Lewis launches Fowey River Dinghy

Marcus Lewis launches Fowey River Dinghy

Penguin is number 58 in the Fowey River Dinghy Class, and was built by Marcus Lewis for a local customer.

There’s much more about the class at Marcus’s website, but the class developed from 15ft knockabout dinghy designed in the late 1940s by Reg Freeman, and the plans were published in Yachting Monthly to encourage readers to go out and build a boat.

Marcus points out that Fowey River Dinghy number 1 was built in 1950, so in 60 years there have been nearly 60 boats.

Penguin is built of FSC mahogany, copper riveted, with steam bent oak ribs, finished with Hempel Woodseal and International Varnish. Her sails and cover were made by Mitchell Sails of Fowey.

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

Refurbished Thames barge Edith May at sea and sailing well

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Thames sailing barge Edith May

Edward Gransden has kindly been in touch with these photos of the Thames sailing barge named Edith May, which has this month been sailing for the first time in ten years or more. Here’s what he says:

‘Please find attached a couple of photos from our first sail. We are intending to charter with individuals and groups up to 12 throughout the summer, operating from Lower Halstow, Chatham and Queenborough.

‘Having spent the past 10 and a half years restoring her, it was a great thrill to be able to take her out sailing for the first time, with her performance proving very pleasing. The Swale Match in August will be the first chance we get to see if she has retained the pace she was once renowned for!’

Thanks Edward! Any time you have photos and stories to share let me know.

It happens that we were over at Lower Halstow this weekend, and found the Edith May in the dock looking very smart. I took some shots with my camera phone – but I’m damned if I can get them out. It’s a better camera than you might think, but the connections and software make me curse!

Here’s an earlier post featuring the Edith May, and here’s a link to the Edith May website.