#waterwag – The hull of the latest Waterwag, the oldest one design dinghy class in the world, is being exhibited at the 2015 RDS National Crafts Awards Exhibition this week and during the Dublin Horse Show next week.
Built in Mountplunkett, Roscommon over the past 18 months by Jimmy Furey and Cathy Mac Aleavey, Wag No. 45 has been named Mariposa (Spanish for butterfly) and will be launched during the annual Waterwag Club Shannon regatta which will be held this year at Lecarrow on Blackbrink Bay, Lough Ree on September 19th next. In 2016, Mariposa will join the growing number of Waterwags being raced in Dun Laoghaire.
The 100–year–old class is one of the most active dinghy classes racing in Dun Laoghaire, regularly attracting 20 and 30–boat fleets. Last month, another brand new boat, No.46 was launched and sailed at Dun Laoghaire.
Mariposa has a keel and gunwales made of oak sourced in the Earl of Meath's Kilruddery Estate in Bray, sitka spruce planking from British Columbia, a transom, thwarts and centre board casing in Honduran mahogany provided by Milosky's of Kenilworth, Dublin and knees made from elm supplied by Mick Dunne of Clonmore sawmills in Tullamore, all secured together with copper nails and rooves.
The Waterwag is one of 85 exhibits representing the best of Irish craftsmanship now on display on the RDS concert hall and open free of charge to the public this week and continuing on display during the Horse Show next week.
