It could be argued that the progress of the Dublin Bay Water Wag Class has been unstoppable since its foundation in 1887 by Ben Middleton and his friends as the world’s first One-Design fleet. There may have been times in their unrivalled life-span when the future of these characterful little boats seemed thin enough, but such times have been forgotten, and now they thrive as never before.
The Wags have come in two manifestations. The first was a lug-rigged 13ft double-ender in 1887, while the second, a more robust 14ft 3ins transom-sterned boat to Maimie Doyle’s design with a gunter sloop rig, arrived in 1900. This second version clearly hit the spot, and though not all individual boats have stayed the course, the class’s fastidiously maintained registration system - which only allocates sail numbers to boats in full sailable condition – has been through the 50 mark for two seasons now, and will be increased by at least two more in 2023 with a couple of completely new boats under construction by master craftsman Rui Ferreira of Ballydehob in West Cork.
Rui Ferreira with a previously-completed Water Wag awaiting the paint and varnish treatment
Rui is no stranger to Water Wag building to the highest international standards, but the pace in the class is such that having the newest boats will not necessarily bring success.
That said, the two new owner-skippers, who prefer to remain anonymous at this stage, come with impressive track records. And in keeping with the Class’s gender-blindness – part of its DNA since its foundation – one of the new owners is female, while the other is one of the others.
The Ferreira workshop is tidied, and the setup is in place for a new Water Wag to start taking shape
The skeletons of two new Water Wags begin to emerge
The original Water Wag builders of 122 years ago did not have the benefit of today’s lamination techniques for building the stem, but now it greatly enhances the finished boat
