Klassiske Linjer nr 10 1999 - Klassisk Treseiler Klubb

The 1990 European Championships. Horten, Norway, is the venue for the Gold Cup 1999.
substituting a tiny open cuddy.
The Dragon had started to
move with the times, acquiring
synthetic sails, wider side
decks, and metal spars with
runners moved to the extreme
Norway’s most famous DRAGON, Thor Thorvaldsen’s PAN.
She won the Dragon class olympics in 1948 and 1952 with
the same crew. See interesting Letters to the Editor, this issue.
aft. Its price was about £2000.
It was now a much sleeker
boat. Fleets of Dragons and
regular regattas were established
in many of the famous
sailing areas of the British Isles.
Because of their kindly sailing
characteristics and because
they could be easily towed they
were bought and sailed by
families, and annual regattas
still take place in sailing waters
where Dragons have been seen
for over 50 years.
The Duke of Edinburgh was a
Dragon helmsman on BLUE-
BOTTLE in the 1956 olympics
at Melbourne. He had earlier
presented The Edinburgh Cup
to the fleet in 1949, since when
winners have been built by the
great names in yacht building:
Borrensen, Pederson and
Thuesen, Lallows, McGruer,
Woodnutt, Camper and
Nicholson. In the 1980’s Peter
Wilson at Aldeburgh was the
most prolific builder of British
Dragons producing GRP
(Glassfibre reinforced with
Plastic) hulls using his original
cold moulded hull as a plug. In
1988 on the East at Burnham
Coast Petticrows Boat Yard
began to build Dragons from
their own mould; they were
advised on deck lay-out by Paul
Ricard Ho-Jensen. In 1988
Nick Trevithick writing in
Classic Boat said, “this step into
the top end of the market is an
exciting one,” the rest, as they
say, is history.
The wooden classic DRAGON
still competes today, and
although not on equal terms
with the latest from Petticrows
or Borrensen, remains quite
competitive in the middle of the
fleet. There are still opportunities
to embark upon restoration
projects - Dragons built in the
1950s and 1960s disappear
from time to time and enter the
stage two or three years later
beautifully restored. The last
traditionally built wooden
Dragons were completed for
the 1971 season.
The Gold Cup in Cascais (near
Lisbon) in 1998 saw the 1962
Peterson and Thuesen, JANE,
in utterly immaculate condition.
JANE, formerly sailed from the
Forth by Dr David Young ,won
the Edinburgh cup in 1970 and
the Gold Cup in 1973. Although
35 years old, she came about
half way up the fleet in a fiercely
competitive international fleet
of over 70 boats. Wooden
Dragons are still built. A new
cold moulded one from
Borrensen will, however, set
you back £70,000 – a far cry
from the 1938 price of £300.
One was bought to sail with the
Forth fleet by Ron James last
year and recently, in the
mediterranean, Fred Imhoff
was sailing another.
EDITOR’S NOTE
Simon Holt is President of
British Classic Dragons.
KLASSISKE LINJER NR.10 MAI 1999
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