Yachts & Yachting - July 2018

FEATURE

Left

The fleet attracts

sailors of all ages

Below

Over 100 entries

are expected at

this year’s Lendy

Cowes Week

been part of the Squib class DNA –

and there is no better place to party.

We will also be able to showcase the

boat and class in front of other keen

keelboat sailors in the Solent area and

hope some of them will want to try

Squib sailing at their the local clubs.”

Although some speciics of the

iner details have yet to be nailed

down, the intention is to use the

irst Saturday for a practice race and

follow this with six championship

races. Four of these will be windward-

leeward courses from a committee

boat and two will be regular Cowes

Week style races starting or inishing

on the Royal Yacht Squadron line.

“Not everyone was supportive at irst,”

admits Grogan, “but many members

see the beneits.” By the end of February

there were already 80 boats entered and

the class hopes inal numbers will top

100. Even if they are not successful in
     that, it seems assured that Squibs will be
     the largest class at the event this year.
     Telecommunications company, aql,
     has put in a signiicant amount of
     sponsorship money that will be used
     to give all competitors a free spinnaker.
     “Our support for the Squib class at Lendy
     Cowes Week is all about supporting
     the sailing community,” says CEO Prof
     Adam Beaumont. “I’ve been coming to
     Cowes for nearly 30 years and there’s
     nothing else like it – we want to help
     make the racing experience accessible
     and afordable for everyone, including
     the young and the disabled, and to
     energise sailing at its grassroots. Oten
     sponsorship overlooks the smaller
     classes, but I think the collective
     branding of what could be a leet of
     100 boats, will be a great memory.”
     he 50th anniversary year also sees
     a season-long draw for a new Rondar
     built Squib. Entry is simply by racing

at any – or all – of a list of nominated

events. he more races you do, the

greater the chance of winning the boat.

A NEW BUILDER

he irst 160 Squibs were built with

quality lay ups and light ends. However

production then changed to a diferent

yard and the bulk of the leet was built

with less attention to detail, including

some with sprayed lay-ups that tend to

be somewhat above minimum weight.

he original mould for the cast iron

keel was lost, so these boats also had a

diferent and less eicient keel shape

In 1994 production moved irst to

Barker Brewer boats, who built 12

Squibs, and then to Parker Yachts in

1997, with boat number 783. Parker

then built around nine new boats each

year – all of which are very competitive

thanks to tight weight control, attention

to detail and a new keel mould. Ater

Parker Yachts’ demise production

was suspended for a few years, until

Rondar picked up the batten and

improved on the original design.

heir ith boat is currently in build.

he new boats ofer the advantages

of a self draining cockpit, a ‘hose it

down and walk away’ level of minimal

maintenance, plus the appeal of a boat

with a more contemporary interior

design. However, there was much

discussion focused around the use of

foam sandwich in the structure. he

class rules also allow for a hybrid boat,

in which the new deck and cockpit can

be installed in an existing vessel, which

has the potential to improve a middle-

aged boat and bring it down to weight

at a much lower cost than a new boat.

FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS

“he class association has been very

active and is keen to ensure the class

is progressing,” says Grogan. One idea

that’s being toyed with is changing

the sail colour from the distinctive

mace. Again there are arguments in

both directions. While some members

value the class’s distinct style, the

drawback of the existing requirement

is that the process of dying the material

adds to the cost of the sails while

marginally degrading the cloth.

To help the association gauge opinion

Hyde Sails has built a suit with a mace

coloured jib that has white enforcement

and a white mainsail with mace

reinforcement. hese were exhibited at

the RYA Dinghy Show; feedback suggests

a growing groundswell of opinion in

the class in favour of modernisation.

Rondar picked up and improved on the

original design, their fifth boat is now in build

PHOTOS: PAUL WYETH/CWL

66 Yachts & Yachting July 2018 yachtsandyachting.co.uk