Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Irish Sailors Celebrate International 12 Foot Dinghy Centenary in West Kirby

19th June 2013
Irish Sailors Celebrate International 12 Foot Dinghy Centenary in West Kirby

#international12 – Ireland will be at the forefront of centenary dinghy celebrations to be held in the UK next week in an historic class still active in Ireland.

The 1913 designed international 12–foot dinghy is having a centenary regatta on a marine lake at West Kirby, near Liverpool from the 28th to 30th of June.

30 boats from six countries are competing including three Irish boats sailed by Aiden Henry, Billy Bebbington, Margret Delaney, Gerry Murray, and George Miller.

'A practical dinghy, good to row, easy to sail (though difficult to sail well), very capable as a tender, it is, all in all, the perfect all round dinghy', say enthusiasts.

The 12s held an Irish national Championship at the Royal St. George YC in 2011 and a look back through Irish sailing archives reveals strong ties to many Irish Yacht Clubs (See images below).

At that championship boats sailed with the original International 12 foot rig – with no foredeck, no jib, and with a dipping lug rig – and with the Dublin Bay rig of a small foredeck with washboards, jaws on the bottom of the gaff and a small jib.

The Delany family boat 'Cora' No. 8 will be attending West Kirby. Steered by Margaret Delany who is currently based in the UK, but, as the boat has an Irish sail number, she will be classified as an Irish boat.

Cora has undergone substantial rebuilding at Norfolk Boatbuilding School. She has returned to the original rig and has been receiving advice from the International 12 foot sailors from Holland.

George Miller from the Royal St. George Yacht Club has attended several Intrernational 12 regattas in Italy and elsewhere in recent years.

dinghyweek

The boats were originally called the British Racing Association 12–footer and were later awarded Olympic status. They were also awarded international status about the same time.

There are currently strong fleets in Turkey, Japan, Holland, Italy and smaller fleets in the UK and some other countries.

Irish fleets were orignally strongest in Royal Munster Yacht Club (documented in RCYC's history), Seapoint Sailing Club, Sutton Dinghy Club, Howth Sailing Club and Clontarf Yacht and Boat Club.

int12championshipentry

An entry list of the Irish Int 12 foot championship at IDRA Dinghy Week in Baltimore, West Cork year 1960 or 1964

A former Olympic class in 1920 and 1928, it became relatively obscure outside Holland, Italy, and Japan.

Although superseded by modern dinghies there has been a revival with new boats being built.

Below is a contemporary text from the foreunner to Afloat magazine describing how the 12s evolved.

DBSC12

Published in Historic Boats
Afloat.ie Team

About The Author

Afloat.ie Team

Email The Author

Afloat.ie is Ireland's dedicated marine journalism team.

Have you got a story for our reporters? Email us here.

We've got a favour to ask

More people are reading Afloat.ie than ever thanks to the power of the internet but we're in stormy seas because advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. Unlike many news sites, we haven't put up a paywall because we want to keep our marine journalism open.

Afloat.ie is Ireland's only full-time marine journalism team and it takes time, money and hard work to produce our content.

So you can see why we need to ask for your help.

If everyone chipped in, we can enhance our coverage and our future would be more secure. You can help us through a small donation. Thank you.

Direct Donation to Afloat button

Featured Sailing School

INSS sidebutton

Featured Clubs

dbsc mainbutton
Howth Yacht Club
Kinsale Yacht Club
National Yacht Club
Royal Cork Yacht Club
Royal Irish Yacht club
Royal Saint George Yacht Club

Featured Brokers

leinster sidebutton

Featured Webcams

Featured Associations

ISA sidebutton
ICRA
isora sidebutton

Featured Marinas

dlmarina sidebutton

Featured Chandleries

CHMarine Afloat logo
https://afloat.ie/resources/marine-industry-news/viking-marine

Featured Sailmakers

northsails sidebutton
uksails sidebutton
watson sidebutton

Featured Blogs

W M Nixon - Sailing on Saturday
podcast sidebutton
BSB sidebutton
wavelengths sidebutton
 

Please show your support for Afloat by donating