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EDITORIAL.... This story goes way way back but came to life again as a result of another of those strange coincidences that have dogged this boat.

REQUIEM FOR A DINGHY

It all started quite innocently really… Here in the big smoke we have what are known as 'Inorganic Collection Days'. These are days where the citizens who don't know the value of anything can throw all of their rubbish out on the side of the road for the council to take to the dump.
Now I am one of those who is not allowed out unsupervised during the week or so that all of these treasures are there for the taking.
Over the years I have collected many items that have come in very handy. Not the least of these is a supply of oak bedheads, mahogany and other exotic timbers that you just cannot find for love or money.

The 2001 collection was to be different. It was just breaking dawn and I was walking Pogolius — , Admiral of the Blue and Keeper of the Yard for her morning constitutional.
Avast there I spy a boat midst the flotsam and jetsum of modern society. Could'st this be of some value?
Cautiously I made my way across the road for a better look and determined that on first glance it was pretty shagged. But wait, do I see before me a set of spars. Bloody hell that'll be my boomkin, mizzen sprit boom and bearing out pole for my new boat. Overcoming feelings that I was committing theft I hefted them to my shoulder and carried on dog duty.
The shape and construction of this tiny boat kept haunting me all day and the next night and the next afternoon I was heading back to knock on the door of the donor

The dinghy is tiny at just over 2 metres and has been constructed from strips of kauri. Kauri was one of the world's great boat building timbers but alas is now almost unobtainable in this country.
Obviously the work of a tradesman, two things were obvious on this boat.
First she had been left upside down for a long long time and was rotten right around the gunwales (about 30 years I believe). The other was that she had been given a fibreglass skin at some time in her life.
From the side she has one of most beautiful stems I have ever seen on a boat and everything is exactly in proportion. From above she needed a little more of a curve to a more narrow transom to get that a classic shape but I guess some sacrifice had to be made in a boat this small.
Later that evening I spoke to Rod Miller about the boat. She came with an M Class (18ft clinker mullet boat) named Mustang in the early 1950's and was thought to be about 60 or 70 years old. Roy's father Ray had purchased Mustang in pretty bad condition and had her repaired by Parrish to return to racing.
Now I have done some research on that subject but as it is in a book written locally I will seek permission to reprint the details as it may give some clues as to the builder of the dinghy.

Now my original intention was to document the boat and photograph all of the 'newsworthy parts' before giving her a Viking funeral but things have moved on from there. For a start she is not totally beyond repair although the task of restoring her to original condition probably is.
It sort of looks like one of those projects where you could tinker away in your shed all winter and come out with something that was pretty presentable.
As for what you would do with her! Well it looks like a classic pond yacht. You know one of those micros where you sit in it like a canoe with little bits of string and zoom around to your heart's content.
I think of the M Class and look at the way the towing eye is set low on the stem and I am reminded of the cruising race burglars.
Many of the older clubs have cruising races where it is compulsory to tow a dinghy. Many a Coruba and raspberry has been downed during discussions on how to design the perfect cruising race dinghy. Even heard plans for helium filled buoyancy tanks mooted. The Pony here (as I call it) would have been a cracker to tow in a cruising race. You would just have to make sure you did not all want to come back from the beach BBQ at the same time.
Anyway! This looks like it could be a never ending story so as John says 'watch this space'.

Note: I left the oak leaves in the boat to show you just how tiny it really is.
Whoever built this boat, their workmanship has lasted an awfully long time. I wonder if the boat I am building will still be around in 60 to 70 years, I won't be. The ravages of rot have not diminished the quality of the strip planking job with its tiny tapers and beautiful proportions.
She was gunter rigged but the sail rotted away some 15 years ago. Using a bit of electronic magic I have drawn up a rig to give you some idea of what she would have looked like. Can't do much about the raspberry ripple paintwork without destroying her lines just yet.
Originally she probably had a layer of calico or light canvas duck and then overpainted but back in the 50's she received a 'coat of glass'.
Epiglass was then being 'invented' by Sonata Laboratories and I have memories as a child helping my father do the same thing to an old boat he was fixing up. The integrity of this fibreglass coating is still very good.
Written and photographed
by Dave Robertson