Remember the Unit??

by David Henshall on 27 Sep 2006 40 years after its inception, an historical gem has been found in a shed on the Isle of Wight.

It was back in 1965 that the IYRU (now ISAF) started the search for an Olympic dinghy to replace the Finn, which was seen as elitist and restrictive for lighter crews. In the UK, Yachting World magazine helped to sponsor a competition, to design a new dinghy which would attend a series of trials in Weymouth on the south coast of Britain.

Peter Milne, the designer of the Fireball and Mike Jackson of National 12 fame, submitted entries, as did David Thomas, who later came to fame with his highly popular keelboat designs - the Sonata, Impala and Sigma. David’s design, the Unit, quickly showed itself to be a highly competitive package and in the trials went on to beat Paul Elvstrom sailing his trapeze rigged ‘Trapeze’ dinghy.

With its sliding seat helping the helm drive the boat hard upwind and good form stability downwind, the Unit won the Trials, but not the hearts of the IYRU Selectors. A second set of trials were convened at La Baule, where the Unit again demonstrated a comfortable superiority. Still not satisfied, the IYRU called a third set of trials at Medemblik. In a breezy final race, the Unit sailed by David Thomas himself, came up against the Contender sailed by a younger, fitter, Craig Whitworth. The Contender stormed away to win the trials and the overall selection as the new ‘International’ single hander.

Since then, the Contender has gone from strength to strength, but for the Unit loosing out on selection, brought about a swift and untimely end. With no more than a handful of boats built, the class quickly disappeared into obscurity. Of the boats that were built, top Fireball builder of the day, Jack Chippendale, cold moulded two wooden hulls and another half dozen or so in GRP. Of the wooden hulls, Unit No. 1 (the boat that actually raced in the trials was wrecked when sailing in strong winds in the Solent, but the other was stored away and has now been recovered. The intention is to refurbish the boat, as it would appear that there is little structural rebuilding required. Once restored, the Unit could be entered into the growing number of ‘classic’ dinghy events being held in the UK.

2007 also sees the Contenders return to Medemblik for their World Championships. It may well be possible for the restored Unit to make an appearance, just to show what ‘might have been’. . .

It is worthy of note, that whilst researching the Unit on the Isle of Wight, details were uncovered that explain the fate of another boat specifically developed for the IYRU trials. The famous Finn Sailor and Yachting journalist Jack Knights, had collaborated with Australian boat builder David Binks, on a design for a dinghy called the Cobber. The Cobber included a number of innovative features, including a ‘tractor seat’ on a pole, that performed the function of a sliding seat. Sadly, the Cobber was one of those boats that just didn’t work, after the trials it was gifted to the local Sea Scouts. The hull started to de-laminate and with little apparent value, it suffered the fate of being saw up and burnt, a sad end to a little bit of sailing history.

For further details on the restoration of the Unit contact davidhenshall@hotmail.com , for further enquires about the Classic Dinghy scene there is an active Association at www.cvrda.org.