Racing Dinghies

OK, this is not one of my boats, but is owned by Classic Dinghy guru Ed Bremner and is worth a mention.

Full details of the boat can be found on the CVRDA forum. If I had the time (and a crew) I’d love to have this boat, but I’m not allowed. So if you are after a Classic International 14 that’s undergone a total restoration have a look at Iolanthe. [Read more →]

Finn K129, my rather lovely Fairey Finn is for sale. More details on the For Sale page.

After a few weeks in the workshop being varnished, painted and refitted K349 was ready to go.

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When going to collect Finn GBR670 I was talking to Graham Brookes, fellow Finn and Roadford Lake sailor. I persuaded him to sell me a lovely Raudaschl  Finn he had recently bought. This boat was built in 1970 for Alistair Currey, the son of Fairey Marine’s Charles Currey.

This boat ex-Sharon, now called Pandemonium was pretty sucessful when raced and was winning in the early 1990s when she was epoxy coated. Somehow she ended up in Devon and was stored in a barn gathering dust for a number of years before being found by Graham

She had had all the varnished removed and had been attacked with a belt sander

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So, as the owner of GBR662, a Vanguard Finn, I was looking to upgrade to a Carbon Wing Mast. When speeaking to Rodney Cobb of Suntouched Sailing to enquire about a new mast he told me he had a number of nearly new B4 Finns taken as part exchange for new boats.

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After sailing the Fairey Finn for a season, I was hooked on the class and sold the Australian IC (GBR 304) to pay for a well sorted Vanguard Finn. This boat had come from Germany and had been breathed on with a replacement transom and updated fittings, a round carbon rig and film sail.

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After a number of years in International canoes I decided to give Finn sailing a go, mainly due to advancing age and being fed up of swimming. In 2006 I noticed a very nice Fairey Finn on eBay and it was down the road at Poole.

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David Henshall, a regular poster to the Classic and Vintage Racing Dinghy Association forum has unearthed some great footage of a Yachting World Scow from the early 1960s. Excellent footage of a great boat.

I’ve made the decision to sell my Tideway. Further details can be found on the For Sale page

After competeing the the International Canoe World Championships in Weymouth in 2005 I met up with Christian Knott from Australia who persuaded me (not that I needed much persuasion) that I really need to buy his IC after the Worlds. I ended up swapping GBR 212 and a significant amount of cash for the orange boat, AUS 17.

AUS 17 was registered as GBR 304 and I sailed her for a year or so before realising that it was canoe sailing that was causing my back problems (or maybe it was the multiple capsizing causing the problem). At this time I had started sailing Finns and made the decision to change class so sold the boat to Stu Budden.