International 12 Foot Dinghy Friendship Regatta at Rutland - Preview

The International 12ft dinghy © Vincent Delany

After many years of putting plastic into the oceans, the sailing community are now joining the revolution to save our sea. No longer do sailors have to sit on an expensive piece of plastic (which cannot be recycled when it reaches the end of its life), now there are timber alternatives which have a longer working life as a racing boat.

The International 12 Foot Dinghies (formerly B.R.A. Dinghies) designed by Englishman George Cockshott are a fine example of modest wooden boats with a long working life. The class has sailed in recent years at Oulton Broad, and West Kirby Marine Lake and this year these dinghies are coming to Rutland Sailing Club for a four day Friendship Regatta.

Among the International 12 foot dinghies coming to Rutland Sailing Club for the four day friendship regatta from 26th till 29th July 2019 will be Dutch, French, Irish as well as the British based boats. These boats have formerly raced at West Kirby Sailing Club, Royal Corinthian Yacht Club (Burnham), Trearddur Bay Sailing Club (Anglesea), East Wight Dinghy Club, and Looe Sailing Club, and White Mere Sailing Club and many other locations in Britain. There were up to 200 dinghies registered in Britain, and we believe that many dinghies out there, which are still sailable.

Sail numbers in this class can be somewhat confusing, as each fleet was permitted to allocate numbers to its own fleet, and thus many fleets have low number boats. In contrast, the Dutch have a national numbering system. Among the boats coming to Rutland will be Dutch No. 112 from 1925, Shankill (Co. Dublin) No. 8 allegedly built by Camper and Nicholson c.1929, and a dinghy of mysterious lineage No.11 from Ireland.

For the Rutland regatta, we hope that Richard Feldon, Stephen Berrisford, Keith Mitchell, Mark Duffield, Doug Branson and Ben Harris will join the fun at Rutland Water.

For more information contact: www.12footcwc.org or