COURTESY ESTUARY ONE_DESIGN CLASS
ONBOARD
Classnotes Estuary
One-Design T
BY VANESSA BIRD
his pretty little 18-footer’s story is inextricably linked to those of two other 18ft (5.5m) designs, the Thames Estuary One- Design (TEOD) and the Essex One-Design (EOD), which had proved very popular in the Thames Estuary since the early 1900s. The Estuary One-Design is the result of an amalgamation of these two classes, launched in 1966 after a committee of TEOD and EOD owners decided that something needed to be done to preserve their classes. Escalating maintenance costs meant that the aging fleet of wooden dinghies was dwindling, and the prohibitively high cost of building new boats meant that none had been launched since 1952. Yet the classes were still relevant, producing exhilarating sailing in the waters for which they were designed. The new design had to be on an equal par to its predecessors so that existing boats would still rate competitively, and be of GRP construction, in order to keep maintenance costs low.
In 1966, the prototype Estuary One-Design, Samantha, was launched. Built by Thames Structural Plastics Ltd of Canvey Island, Essex, she was immediately raced against four EODs to compare performance. After numerous crew swaps between the five boats to ensure fairness, the committee concluded that there was little difference in performance, which made the design viable. However, despite three more being built speculatively, existing owners were initially reluctant to adopt the new class. It was only through persistence from the owners of the new boats that the class eventually took off and began racing regularly alongside its older counterparts. In 1973, the moulds were acquired by ER Birch of Canvey Island, which built 10 boats, and over the next six years, a further 21 were launched. In
74 CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2011
PROTOTYPE Samantha, the prototype GRP Estuary One-Design, was later bought by a member of East Dorset YC, who was keen to establish a new fleet in Poole Harbour. However, as far as is known, nothing came of it, although there are fleets as far south as Ramsgate, Kent.
RED TRIANGLE The Estuary One-Design’s sail insignia is a red triangle, symbolising an estuary.
CLASS REJECT Jazz, the first Estuary One-Design to be built after the prototype, only lasted four races at Alexandra Yacht Club – all of which she won – before being thrown out of class for failing to conform to the class’s one-design measurements. She later returned to class after modification.
) of sail on a gunter rig and was crewed by up to three people (including a paid hand if required). By 1914, with nine launched, regular inter-club racing was taking place. In 1919, however, EYC decided the TEOD could be improved on, and commissioned Morgan Giles to produce a modified version, the Essex One-Design. The specification was near-identical, but with a harder bilge, wider transom, and rigged as a bermudan sloop. It became popular with Kent clubs too. Cole & Wiggins of Leigh-on-Sea built the first 12, and by 1986, when the last boat was built, 71 had been launched. Today, a handful race alongside the Estuary One-Designs, of which around 20 race from Essex YC each season.
total, 43 GRP Estuary One-Designs were built, and by 1979, 22 were racing regularly alongside nine Essex ODs. In 1988, the EOD owners’ association was merged with the Estuary One-Design Association, which had been formed in 1977, fully integrating all three classes. The 1911 TEOD was a Morgan Giles design, commissioned by Alexandra YC in Southend-on-Sea and Essex YC in Leigh-on-Sea as a shallow-draught dinghy for local racing. The 18ft, 3/4-deck clinker dinghy, wych elm on oak, set 210sqft (19.5m2
Above: Estuary One-Design evolved from the Thames Estuary and Essex O-Ds
ALFRED WHITE TROPHY Tango was the first Estuary One-Design to win the prestigious Alfred White Memorial Trophy, which has been awarded to TEODs and EODs for points results since 1920. She won it in 1969, and has also won it for the last two years running.
COSTS
ESTUARY ONE
DESIGN LOA
18ft (5.5m) BEAM
6ft (1.8m)
DRAUGHT (C/B UP) 12in
(35cm)
DRAUGHT (C/B DOWN) 5ft 2in (1.6m)
SAIL AREA 210sq ft (19.5m2
DESIGNER Morgan Giles
)
Thames Estuary One-Designs cost £35 16s in 1911. The first Essex One- Designs, built in 1920, cost £100. The first Estuary One-Design in 1966 cost £562. Today, secondhand Estuary One-Designs sell for around £2,000.
www.eodclass.org.uk
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