1969; Forty years on

While doing research on previous posts, it occurred to me that some momentous historical events in dinghy sailing took place in 1969.

First, as mentioned previously, the International Moth Class merged with the Australian Moth class in 1969. With this union, the class adopted the higher aspect fully battened Australian Rig, wider beam with racks and the squashed bug symbol. Certainly these additions set the tone for the International Moth class to continue as one of the premier development classes going.

Second, the International 14, after banning the trapeze in 1938, voted in 1969 to adopt it. It was one of the last "performance classes" of that time to adopt the trapeze. It wouldn't be until the 1980's that the International 14 would follow the International Moth's lead and merge with it's Australian counterparts, again adopting most of the Australian rule.

Thrid, Ian Proctor designed the Topper dinghy, the first mass produced injection thermoplastic class in the world. At 46,000 sold it probably ranks third in singlehander numbers, behind Laser and Sunfish.

I'm sure there are other 1969 dinghy sailing notable events. As discovered, I will post them.