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Savvy Navvy 2024

10th anniversary of revived Irish International 12 Foot Class Championship

by Vincent Delany 8 Sep 2020 09:53 UTC 13 September 2020
The newly built International 12 dinghy © Vincent Delany

The B.R.A. 12 Foot Dinghy Class was adopted by the International Yacht Racing Union on 1st January 1920, and thus it became the International 12 Foot Class, the only dinghy class to compete at the 1920 Antwerp (Belgium) Olympic Games, at Oostende.

We are delighted to be able to report the building of a new International 12 Foot Dinghy this year by Rui Ferreira of Ballydehob, to add to the existing UK and Irish fleets.

Today there are many 12 Foot Dinghies in the UK and in Ireland, some having been in the same families for many years. Some are unused and located in barns while others are used as yacht tenders. We have a member interested in restoring an International 12 Foot Dinghy, so if you have one which needs restoration, do let us know.

In 2010 Mrs. Gail Varian organized a revived Irish Championship at the Royal St. George Yacht Club. The 10th anniversary of this revived championship for the historic 12 Foot Dinghy prizes will be held at Royal St George Yacht Club, Dun Laoghaire on Sunday 13th September. A good number of competitors have expressed and interest in competing. Unfortunately we were obliged to refuse entries from the UK and Belgium due to the Covid-19 need for competitors to isolate for 14 days on arrival in Ireland.

A snippit of yachting history for readers:

At the 1920 Olympic Games at Antwerp, the yachting regatta was held at Oostende. Races were held for 12 meter Class, 10 meter class, 8 meter Class, 7 meter Class, 6.5 meter class, 6 meter class and 12 foot Dinghy Dlass. The organisers, in their wisdom, assumed that the 12 Foot Dinghy and the 12 Meter Yachts would have the same sea-going abilities and were both required to race the same course. After two races, the dinghy competitors went on strike and refused to race on the 25 mile long race course which was totally unsuitable for small open dinghies. This caused such chaos among the organizing committee, that it was several months later before the second Olympic race for dinghies which was held 150 miles away in a different country, The Netherlands.

The organizers would like to hear from any UK owners of 12 Footers. Please contact

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