Taken for granted

This year the National 12 dinghy celebrates its 70th birthday and that means there have been 70 years of development since its inception in 1936. This is probably best described as controlled evolution, but the many small steps have over time brought about a marked change. It is most obvious when you compare the vital statistics of N1 with the latest carbon-fibre machine, N3500.

Despite the influx of manufactured classes to the dinghy scene the National 12 class is still going strong, as shown by the 77 boats that took part in the class's 70th anniversary regatta held at Northampton Sailing Club in the UK from 27 to 29 May. Many vintage clinker boats joined in and the weekend culminated in the Grand Pursuit Race where the older boats headed off first. The developments over the years were very obvious in this event, with the older boats needing every second of their 20-minute head start over the two-hour race (and this was in flat water...).

To read the remainder of this and many other topical technical articles, please purchase your copy of the September 2006 edition of Seahorse International Sailing, available at selected newsstands or by calling: + 44 (0) 1590 671899 or by email at: info@seahorse.co.uk

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