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

Does anyone know the story of a small yacht called Harnser?

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Harnser as she is now

A chap called Nigel has been in touch to appeal for some background knowledge about a boat he has bought as a project. If you know anything that seems relevant please either add it to the comments below or write to me direct at gmatkin@gmail.com.

Here’s what he says:

‘She is called Harnser and has the place name Maldon on her transom. She came ashore on the rock’s below the world famous Golden Cap cliffs on the Dorset coast. A a rescue took place, but the boat was left to the elements.

Fortunately, the weather improved very quickly and she survived long enough for a rescue attempt to be made, and she was taken into Westbay Harbour, where she was lifted out – at which point the bottom was found to be very badly damaged.

At this point the story took a turn for the worse and the boat had to be disposed of. There was quite a lot of newspaper coverage about it at the time which you can see by putting the boat name in Google!

I enclose a picture of her in her current state. I have the mast and some of the rails, but she was partially stripped for repair work and bits went missing… I’m sure somebody could repair her.

I am keen to trace any history of her past and hope you may have somebody in the know among your readers?

Many thanks, Nigel

The sad story of Harnser’s loss appeared in the Western Morning News.