The History of the International 14
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THE HISTORY OF THE INTERNATIONAL 14 Tommy Vaughan’s epic work documenting the development of the class from various scattered types of14 foot small boat in the 1800’s to the international race machine we know today INTRODUCTION 2 THE HISTORY OF THE INTERNATIONAL FOURTEEN 3 EARLY DAYS - PRE 1923 4 A NATIONAL CLASS, 1923 - 1928 7 THE UFFA FOX ERA, 1928-1939 8 THE YEARS OF CHALLENGE, 1946 - 1955 17 THE YEARS OF DEVELOPMENT, 1955 - 1963 22 INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, 1964 - 1970 29 THE YEARS OF DISCORD 1971 – 1980 37 THE YEARS OF CHANGE 1980 – 1989 41 MERGER:A GLOBAL 14 FOOT CLASS: 1990-2003 47 INTRODUCTION The story of the International Fourteen is never ending because so much continues to come to light from its past whilst, being a development class, there is always something new in hull or rig to record. Change in fact, is what Fourteening is, and always will be, about. As a concept it is not stuck in time. The class is fortunate in having a history that goes back to the very origins of racing small open boats and a future, that, within its chosen constraints, is as limitless as human endeavour and ingenuity can devise. It has been my pleasure to try and record the highlights of the International Fourteen. This is the fourth edition , first on the internet.. It is hard to believe that it is over forty years since I was first volunteered for the job. This has been the hardest version to pull together. For the simple reason that for the past few years my role has been of an interested , but distant, supporter rather than that of an enthusiastic, if indifferent, performer. So I have had to rely more than ever on others to fill in the details of what has gone on. So my thanks go out to so many people. The late Leslie Lewis, the man who more than anyone else got the one big Fourteen class idea accepted in the UK It was he who wrote the first amusing version of the class history. To that great small boat enthusiast the late Dr. Robin Steavenson who brought that story up to date in the 1960's. To our late President Stewart Morris who provided so much background detail of the pre and post war period, in which he played such a successful and central part. More recently; to the late Larry Bates for sending a book giving details of early American days; to the late John Winter who filled in so much detail of the 1930's; to lan Cox who provided me with a succinct guide to trends, and significant rule changes, in the class and to Bruce Grant for lending me his meticulously kept scrap book on his Fourteen experiences. to Jeremy Pudney for keeping me in the know for so many years till he retired and to all those people who phoned or wrote with snippets of information about Fourteens and Fourteen Sailing. Thanks are also due to the Rickmansworth Sailing Club. Who? you may well ask, for they do not feature widely in this story. Their prime role, more often than not, appearing to be to make up the numbers at P.O.W. But for sixty years they have been stalwart supporters of the class. Boasting at one time one of the largest, if little known Fleets in the world. It is to them that I owe my introduction to the Fourteen, to many many happy sometimes hectic hours sailing them and to so many friends not least my long suffering crew lan Moore - who also produced and printed the first two editions of this history. Finally my thanks to my wife for correcting my spelling, and worse grammar — when she can read my writing (no problem now thanks to a word processor— and last but not least to all those owners, designers, builders and crews without whose efforts there would be nothing to record. T. J. Vaughan The Hut, 19 King Street Emsworth, Hampshire 16/4/04 THE HISTORY OF THE INTERNATIONAL FOURTEEN To tell the story of the International Fourteen is to recall the early history of small boat racing in this country, for the International Fourteen was originally the National Fourteen and it was but an amalgam of this country's principal 14ft dinghy classes of the early part of the century. Today there is a wide choice of International and National dinghy classes and examples of each can be found in most sailing centres. In the early1900’s the situation was very different, as parochial forces jealously guarded their local class — specially devised to meet local conditions. Argument raged over the merits of various designs and the case for one design or restricted classes. From all the discussion the Fourteens were to gain one of their greatest assets, a liberal set of rules that allowed progressive development and encouraged experiment. The philosophy that led to the formation of the first National dinghy class holds good today, but on an International plane. For the International Fourteen is one of the few classes that allows nations to design and build craft to their own ideas, and yet still compete on equal terms with dinghies of other nations; the modem Fourteen, as will be seen, draws its inspiration from many parts of the world. EARLY DAYS - pre 1923 As improving communications paved the way for a National dinghy class, so lack of communications was probably the main reason for the original wide variation in 14ft dinghy design. Each area, following its own thoughts and traditions, built with materials most readily available at a price locally acceptable, and once so committed was loath to admit any merit in other 'foreign' ideas. The exact beginnings of racing in open centreboard craft are not clear, but it is certain that racing in 14ft. dinghies was taking place in many parts of the country, indeed world, by the beginning of the twentieth century. Prior to this, in the U.K. small boat racing on the sea was largely confined to yacht tenders, open boats with a large lug sail of up to 330 sq.ft.; they varied in size around 18 ft. o. a. and carried large lumps of lead as inside ballast as well as heavy centre plates — with no buoyancy. This probably explains the open boat theme of the International Fourteen - for in those days the ability to sail such an open boat well was a true measure of seamanship ~ the penalty for the skipper who failed was dramatic - he sank. An alternative idea was an open formula craft, the Decimal Three Dinghy, was typical, a simple clinker built boat with a standing lug and sometimes a jib. They were called Decimal Three because their overall length multiplied by their sail area divided by 6,000 had to equal .3, thus you could have a 13ft. boat with 138.4sq.ft. of sail or a 14ft. boat with 123.5sq.ft. of sail. The disadvantage of the system was that in heavy weather the larger boat with smaller sails won and in light conditions the reverse was true. To get over the disadvantages of the rating system, small boat sailors turned to restricted classes and then one designs — and have been disputing the merits of each ever since. The earliest known 'one design' unballasted, centreboard dinghy was the Dublin Bay Water Wag established by an Irishman, T.B. Middleton, in 1887 — originally 13ft. 6in. long, the class took 'one design' somewhat lightly and in the early 1900's changed the length to 14ft. 3 in. The boats were sloop rigged with spinnakers and have some resemblence to early National Fourteen's'. Of the restricted classes, two types were to play a big part in this story, the West of England Conference Dinghy and the Norfolk Dinghy — both 14ft. long, both undecked. The Conference Dinghy was started at Teignmouth in 1889. She was carvel built, sloop rigged with a tiny jib and a Solent lug mainsail 129sq.ft. in all on a 15ft. mast. Among the builders were Flemich, Kassal of Plymouth, and most famous of all, Pengelly of Shaldon, who was followed by Morgan Giles. Morgan Giles, who was destined to play a vital part in the class history, later opened a yard at Hammersmith on the Thames. These W.E.C. dinghies were sea and estuary boats — and proved extremely popular in the Navy, being referred to as 'Pengelly Skiffs'. The principal W.E.C. Challenge Trophy was a match race ~ preliminary races being sailed East and West of Start Point. The Finals were held at a suitable venue on alternate sides of Start Point. In Norfolk, at this time, a very different type of craft had been evolved mainly for use inland, to the rules of the Yare and Bure Sailing Club, clench (clinker) built with a single lug sail (140sq.ft.), and with 80lb. plate. The principal builders were William Mollet of Norwich and Alfred Burgoine of Kingston-on-Thames. Interesting points about Norfolk dinghies were that they believed in development, a few even sported very long rudders, the idea being to increase the waterline length of the boat — the idea was not a success. Others had solid masts without shrouds, the crews being expected to lie full length along the narrow gunwale when on the wind to reduce windage. The early days of small boat racing on the Thames was confined to a menagerie class of open centreboard boats collectively known as 'Gigs', all raced on handicap on the old Yacht Racing Association formula of length and sail area.