Header Photo: Classic Moths in the Mist

I started off the 2020 year with a header photo of (what else) Classic Moths racing in Sunday's early morning mist of last years Midwinter Regatta. Foreground is John Zseleczky, background is Mike Parsons.

A Hybrid Row-Sail Dinghy from the Late 1800's?

Douglas Fowler sent along photos of this discovery, identification unknown. It does fit my conjectural image of what George Aykroyd had in mind when he developed his hybrid row-sail dinghy. (See the Toronto Dinghy.) A fellow named Everett is in possession of her and sent along this information:

"Attached are some photos of a small sailboat I am trying to identify. I think it is a cruiser of the type that appeared at the end of the decked sailing canoe early days say 1890. It was owned by Fred Bourne and purchased at a Dark Island auction in the 1970s. Nicely made, Spanish Cedar, copper tacks have a star embossed on the head. Any thoughts? Thanks' Everett

There doesn't seem to be any provision for rowing. This may have been sail only but it does sport a Whitehall rowboat type transom.

Winners of the America's Teacup Regatta

In my post about The Playboy Bunny, I mentioned that 2020 is the 50th anniversary of the America's Teacup trials on Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Here, from the OD-OY article on the regatta, are the winners from the various divisions racing in the Teacup. Only two of these classes (the Laser and the Hobie) would make a big impact on worldwide sailing.

Header Photo: Bucolic River Scene

The previous header photo to close out 2019 was of a dinghy (possibly a Wayfarer) and a vintage cruiser drifting in opposite directions on an English river, the sun setting. This may be the Three Rivers Race on the Norfolk Broads but things get jumbled up on my computer so I can't say for sure.

The Toronto Dinghy

Several years ago I was working on a sailing history project on the Genesee Dinghy, one of the earliest North American racing dinghies. It never got farther than a couple of chapters. Last week a canoe sailing historian contacted me with a question and I dug out the first chapter, "The Toronto Dinghy", which detailed the precursor to the Genesee Dinghy, the two Toronto dinghies introduced at the end of the 19th century. I reproduce a PDF of the first chapter here for the few Earwigoagin readers who are interested in early North American small boat history.

(As always, use the pop-out icon, top right, to open the PDF in another tab for printing or download.)



The George Aykroyd 14 footer would become the turn-of-the-century L.S.S.A. restricted 14-footer class.

And more L.S.S.A 14 history from the CBIFDA blog.

Some crash and burn to close out 2019!

The first race of the 2019 U.K. Moth Championships featured big breeze and spectacular wipe-outs. (As a change of pace, at the 2:04 mark it is amusing to see a rather slow submerge to a slow endo.)

Header Photo: Bermuda Fitted Dinghy; Transom Shot

Over the years, through several blog posts, Tweezerman has shown the Bermuda Fitted Dinghy a lot of love. They are just so damn photogenic. The previous header photo was a transom shot of "Victory" (at least this is my best guess). This and the following photos of the Bermuda Fitted Dinghy have been lifted from FB.