Please select your home edition
Edition
Savvy Navvy 2024

Oldest videos of Dragon class yachts sailing

by Magnus Smith 8 Sep 11:00 UTC
Racing back in 1956. - Dragon World Championships © SW

The Gold Cup (the Dragon class' World Championships) has just begun, so that gives a great reason to delve into the video archive and see what is the oldest footage we can find of these keelboats. Most videos are from the UK, though of course the class is raced all over the world.

Our first offering is from Burnham-On-Crouch, 1946 and features other local river life too - thanks to Richard Blickman for this footage.

British Pathé usually provide our oldest video, but not this time; they are four years late, with this coverage of UK royalty's keenest Dragon sailor at an event in Lowestoft, 1950.

The Cowes Week, 1952 newsreel likes to focus on royal attendance, but we do get some good fleet shots too. Mid-way the coverage changes to Flying Fifteens.

We will skip the other Cowes videos as they are similar but less interesting. Instead we move away from the UK and go to the Rome Olympics, 1960 - this was sailed at Naples in the 5.5m class and Dragon.

Next up we have Sydney, 1962. Was this the National Championships?

Mexico Olympics, 1968 was contested in the Star, FD and Dragon. Beware: this video repeats twice, so once you reach half-way, you've seen it all!

A World Championships from the seventies now, in Hobart, 1971 brings our archive search to a close. This is the oldest video we have before digital footage takes over.

What of the other decades?

Do you know the location of any other Dragon videos from the analogue era prior to the year 2000? We would love to share these with other sailors. You can submit video links to us for immediate review.

Keep watching with:

Related Articles

Vilamoura Sailing launches 8th Algarve Dragon Cup
With Round 1 from 8th-10th November The much-anticipated 8th Algarve Dragon Cup is set to commence, with Round 1 taking place from November 8th to 10th at the world-renowned Vilamoura Sailing venue. Posted on 7 Nov
Burnham Week overall
Storms and sunshine, heartbreak and mast breaks, parties till dawn Storms and sunshine, heartbreak and mast breaks, parties till dawn, series decided in the last race, a regatta of many firsts - Burnham Week 2024 ended with a bang. Posted on 17 Sep
Kinsale Dragon Gold Cup 2024 overall
Final day drama as Andrade, Leitmann and Lea snatch victory Going into the last day of the Kinsale Dragon Gold Cup 2024 supported by Astra Construction Services Ltd the regatta was still wide open. Peter Gilmour had led from day one but had only a three-point advantage over Lawrie Smith. Posted on 13 Sep
Kinsale Dragon Gold Cup 2024 Day 5
Bailey heads fleet while Gilmour clings to overall lead Day five of the Kinsale Dragon Gold Cup 2024 supported by Astra Construction Ltd brought the fifth race winner in five races. A lighter northerly breeze of five to eighteen knots and a more benign sea state made for a very different day's racing. Posted on 12 Sep
Kinsale Dragon Gold Cup 2024 Day 4
Beadsworth snatches closing seconds race win while Gilmour consolidates overal lead With four races down and two to go Australia's match racing legend Peter Gilmour sailing JPN56 YRed continues to hold a narrow lead at the Kinsale Dragon Gold Cup 2024 supported by Astra Construction Ltd. Posted on 11 Sep
Kinsale Dragon Gold Cup 2024 Day 3
Andrade takes race victory as Gilmour continues to lead Race three of the Kinsale Dragon Gold Cup 2024 supported by Astra Construction Services Ltd was held in a strong and squally north-westerly that at times pushed both the sailors and their boats to their limits. Posted on 11 Sep
Kinsale Dragon Gold Cup 2024 Day 2
Cooke and Gilmour take first blood After the previous day's strong winds, day two of the Kinsale Dragon Gold Cup 2024 supported by Astra Construction Services Ltd produced fabulous conditions, allowing races one and two of the six race series to be completed. Posted on 10 Sep
Kinsale Dragon Gold Cup 2024 Day 1
Strong winds ultimately prevent racing It was a frustrating opening day for the 62 strong fleet at the Kinsale Dragon Gold Cup supported by Astra Constructions Service Ltd, with strong winds ultimately preventing racing. Posted on 8 Sep
Dragons ready to race for Dragon Gold Cup
Kinsale Yacht Club welcome more than 200 Dragon sailors from around the globe Kinsale Yacht Club has thrown open its doors to welcome more than 200 Dragon sailors from around the globe in preparation for the Kinsale Dragon Gold Cup 2024 sponsored by Astra Construction Services Ltd, which gets under way tomorrow, Sunday 8 September. Posted on 7 Sep
Record fleet heading for Dragon Gold Cup 2024
Kinsale Yacht Club is on standby for the arrival of 62 International Dragon Teams Kinsale Yacht Club is on standby for the arrival of 62 International Dragon Teams, representing 14 countries and 4 continents from across the globe, to compete in the 80th Dragon Gold Cup, which gets under way with a practice race on Saturday Posted on 4 Sep
Savvy Navvy 2024Maritimo 2023 S-Series FOOTER