Racing Dinghies

I bought Hit No. 5 in August 2014, and the previous owner had collated a range of information about the Hit Dinghy. This information included articles from the late 1970s, an advertising brochure, measurement certificate and all correspondence relating to the purchase of No. 5.  I had hosted this information on another blog, but I’ll move […]

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As with most projects there’s always some slippage. Realised that the blog has been unattended for many years, but looking through the comments that have been stacking up for approval there’s still some interest in old boats. Much has happened since the last update. Work, getting married, house move, rebuilding Land Rovers etc have meant […]

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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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Everything on the boat was stripped down and varnished, the soleboards and seats had multiple coats of Schooner varnish and the mast, boom and gaff were treated with Le Tonkinois. All I had to do now was put the boat back together again. As this Tideway is the ‘Super’ version it comes with fore and side decks, stern […]

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After repairing the the hog and keel it was time to replace the broken ribs. As I had the seats out and everything stripped out of the boat I had a good look at all the ribs and found that the rear full width ribs  needed replacing along with a couple on the starboard side. So, after a […]

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The 2004 August Bank Holiday weekend finally saw Rannoch take to the water. The wind picked up over the weekend and I thought it was wise not to risk Rannoch with her old wooden rig. This meant sitting out the racing for the Sunday and Monday and give us time to look at the other […]

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International Canoe GBR 212 – Waning Planker After having sailed an older IC, SCATT III, I bought a Pyrahna Carbon IC – GBR212 in 2002. This boat needed mainly cosmetic work and was treated to a total strip down of all deck gear, followed by a refit and paint job.

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Spearhead 16 – Space Invader The Spearhead was found on the ukdinghyracing website and was bought sight unseen where a envelope of cash was exchanged for the boat in a Motorway service station on the M4. My boat was number 16. The photos show number 6 – obviously the “1” has fallen off. Due to […]

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International Canoe K119 – SCATT III I have always wanted an International Canoe since flicking through dinghy books and magazines as a kid. So when I saw one advertised in a Adtrader paper for not alot I had to go and see.

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ToY 117   Having sold our racing boat, Rocket Flare (a Flare 25), we ended up down sizing to a Flying Fifteen. I decided to get back into dinghy sailing after an absence of 15 years. I looked at the crop of current single handers (and got confused with the choice) and decided I was too […]

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