Category: Small boats

A great piece about the evolution of racing dinghy design

Post war dinghy development article

This article by David Henshal about post-War racing dinghy development is well worth reading, and can be seen on the Yachts and Yachting website.

‘One of the most notable changes that have taken place in the sport of dinghy racing in the last 40 or so years has been the impact of the spreadsheet and ‘business model’. Until then, much of the development within the sport had taken place within what could best be described as a ‘cottage industry’. Though this may have looked disorganised and unstructured, the old ways of working did have one key advantage over today’s production lines, as many of the great thinkers and ‘do-ers’ of the day all knew each other well. This friendship allowed for an unprecedented level of interaction and cross fertilisation of ideas that helped drive the ‘big-bang’ of expansion in the sport in the 1950s through to the end of the 1970s. This sharing of ideas can be seen very clearly in the lives of three of our great innovators, people who could almost be described as the ‘Three Wise Men’ of British dinghy sailing… ‘

 My thanks to Australian boat designer Mik Storer of Storer Boat Plans in Wood and Plywood for spotting this one.

 

The Broads – an enthusiastic introduction by Coast presenter Nicholas Crane

Nick Crane is right in this promotional film – Norfolk’s Broads are very special and it’s a great place to explore in a hire boat, whether it’s an engineless old-style sailing boat, a cruiser with an auxilliary engine or a motor boat.

The only thing I’d add to what he says is that when you tie up at night there is very often somewhere great to eat and enjoy a pint of hoppy local beer.

National Historic Ships annual photographic competition 2014

Once again, National Historic Ships UK is running its annual photography competition for this year, and offering a range of equipment and cash prizes to be won.

There are categories for all ages, including one for young photographers under 18.

Entries must be in by the 31 August – the collection above represent some of the judges’ favourites submitted so far this month.

To enter in any of the competition categories, fill in an online entry form and upload your images to the National Historic Ships UK competition webpage at www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk.

There are rules and so on to check on the site also, as well as a handy web gizmo to enable photographers to identify historic ships that local to them and which might provide suitable subjects. (I think non-photographers will find that interesting too!)

Still more, the site has a set of tips for photographers working with marine topics – and one of them says that you deon’t have to have a special camera and that you’re more likely to have a small camera with you when the moment arises. So I guess my little Panasonic will do.

By the way, I’m not a judge but I’m going off the very processed multi-exposure shots we’ve seen so often in recent years, and – bravo! – I’m delighted to see that the judges’ favourites submitted so far during April don’t fall into that category.

PS – The Marsh Awards for volunteers – National Historic Ships is also calling for nominations of volunteers for the Marsh awards, which recognise those who have made a significant contribution to the conservation or operation of historic vessels in the UK.

There is an overall prize of £1,000 to be won for the Marsh Volunteer Award, and £500 for the young volunteer of the year, which is available to nominees aged 25 or under. Both prizes are donated by the Marsh Christian Trust.

Both awards will be presented at our National Historic Ships UK Awards Ceremony, being held in October on HQS Wellington.

Last year’s winners included James Dulson and George Collinson, who have volunteered for a number of years at the Merseyside Maritime Museum, Liverpool, helping to conserve historic vessels including Edmund Gardner, and Isabelle Law who has volunteered as crew on the ferry Glenachulish for the past five years despite having only recently turned 16 years old.

The closing date for nomination is 31 August. Read what to do and about the Marsh awards here.