The Scorpion dinghy – the first fifty years Introduction The Scorpion is a lightweight, high performance, non-trapeze two person racing dinghy. Its adjustable rig enables sailing in nearly all weathers by crews of all weights, ages and experiences. The Scorpion was originally designed for launch and recovery through Cornish surf. It is 14ft long with a hard chine and planing hull and a symmetric spinnaker. It is built to strict class rules whilst rig controls and cockpit layout are left to personal choice. The ability to adjust the rig whilst sailing means that the Scorpion can be raced in most conditions. Its lightweight hull (81kg) gives it good performance and easy handling ashore. The ‘Scorpion’ was designed by Taprell Dorling in 1959. The prototype was launched at Porthpean Sailing Club in St Austell Bay in 1960. Its popularity was immediate and by its 50th anniversary over 2000, mostly wooden ‘Scorpions’, had been built. This is the history of the ‘Scorpion’ over that period. 1 Origins Taprell John Dorling was the proprietor of a small chandlery business, Collins Marine Equipment, which he ran from an office in the house of a friend, a Mr Churchouse in Barnes, West London. He had no intention of building them himself but instead granted licences to existing reputable boat builders, initially to Moores of Wroxham and Aln Boatyard at Alnmouth in Northumberland. In order to maintain standards, Dorling founded the Scorpion Class Association and incorporated into its constitution the requirement that professional boat builders should be licensed to build Scorpions on payment of a designer’s royalty to Taprell. Kits could also be machined by competent firms and ‘amateurs’ were able buy a copy of the plans from the Association for a small sum of money, enabling them to construct a Scorpion totally from scratch. It was arranged that a company called Kitboats Ltd should make the kits of a ‘second edition’ of the Scorpion to be known as ‘Mark II’. Very soon, Taprell Dorling added another builder, Colonel Timothy Honnor, the proprietor of Honnor Marine Ltd at Ivybridge in Devon to build Scorpions and Scorpion construction kits. Prices were competitive so as not to discourage anyone interested in owning a Scorpion. Moores of Wroxham priced their finished boats at £165 and 2 Honnor Marine priced theirs at £150. However, Kitboats soon gave up making kits and another firm in Richmond proved to be unsatisfactory so the franchise was given to Honnor Marine who obtained the materials from a firm of timber merchants, Reeves, Fox and Elliott Ltd of Totnes. The retail price of the kit was £47.10.0. The Scorpion was shown at the 1960 Boat Show in Earls Court but because the exhibition’s rules did not permit a boat to be shown by a class association, Taprell had to show it under his firm’s name of Collins Marine Equipment. It was a great success, so much so that Colonel Honnor decided to extend his premises and Taprell, who had lived on a Thames barge moored at Barnes, moved to the West Country and Mr Churchouse, who gave up his job, also moved there to work with him. (According to a friend, Taprell attempted to sail the Thames barge from Barnes to Truro but was shipwrecked.) In anticipation of many new orders, Honnor Marine Ltd was formed in July 1960 to take over Colonel Honnor’s original business. Mr Churchouse and a Mr Tweed both put money into the venture but not Taprell who decided to set up his own boat building business, Trinity Boats Ltd. This created tension between Taprell and Honnor Marine and by the time of the January 1961 Boat Show, there was conflict, when 3 both proposed to advertise and display Scorpions. Taprell obtained a legal injunction restraining them from making or selling boats or parts of boats and infringing his copyright. Honnor Marine was forced to give such an undertaking. Dorling also took Colonel Honnor to court for copyright infringement. In the first place he lost, but won on appeal. Honnor Marine never again made or sold Scorpions.1 1 Honnor Marine of Totnes became famous as builders of the Drascombe Lugger. When Honnor Marine encountered financial difficulties, Churchouse Boats acquired the licence to build the Drascombe Lugger and, although having moved to Whitchurch, Hampshire, do so until this day. 4 5 Taprell Dorling Taprell Dorling was born in 1920. His father was Captain H. Taprell Dorling, D.S.O., R.N., a soldier. Nicknamed 'Taffrail', 6 Captain Dorling was an acknowledged expert on various military matters and the author of many books beginning with ‘Ribbons and Medals’ first published in 1916.2 Taprell wanted to follow a similar career to that of his father in the navy but was prevented by his poor eyesight. Instead, he joined Napier & Sons, engineers, as a designer but soon his maritime interest prevailed and he formed Collins Marine Equipment. Taprell Dorling settled in Feock, near Truro. He met Peggy Strickland, an antique dealer, and eventually joined her to run an antique business, Strickland and Dorling, from their home. His book The Silver Ship of Truro was published by the City of Truro Chamber of Commerce in March 1982. It is an account of his research into the Town Mark of Truro which held the Royal Mint briefly during the Civil War before it was moved to Exeter. It was later published in an 2 Others included Blue Star Line at War 1939-45 (1973), Blue Star Line: a record of service 1939-45 (1973),Mystery Cruise (1939), Swept channels: being an account of the work of the minesweepers in the great war (1938),Arctic Convoy (1956),Shetland Plan (1974), Dover- Ostend (1973),Chenies (1973), The Jade Lizard (1951),and The Battle for the Atlantic (1946). 7 enlarged format by Strickland and Dorling (his antique business) in 1983. Taprell Dorling maintained an interest in the development of the Scorpion. He was the owner of Sc 1 and 2, ‘Bluejacket’ and ‘Scylla’, which he regularly sailed. He was third in the 1961 Nationals at Canvey Island sailing Scylla. In his later years, he was still seen regularly sailing a more modern Scorpion in Carrick Roads, off Falmouth, often experimenting with alternative rigs. In 1995, Dorling proposed an option involving a choice of rigs (and handicaps), including the options of a fully battened main, genoa and single trapeze. The option was not adopted by the Association because of fears of rigging a trapeze on a deck-stepped mast and because there was deep concern at the time over the future viability of the class and it was felt essential to retain its one design. Inventiveness foundered on pragmatism. Taprell Dorling died on Monday December 5th 2006, aged 86. Peggy died four days later aged 81. The two were buried in St Mylor’s churchyard overlooking Carrick Roads. 8 Fig. 2 Fig. 3 9 Some of the original plans The First Ten Scorpions No Name Owner Club 1 Bluejacket Taprell Dorling** Royal Plymouth Corinthian YC 2* Scylla Taprell Dorling** Royal Plymouth Corinthian YC 3* Scorpion M.G. Barnard** Decca SC 4* Mad N. Hartley** Margaret 5 Sheena N. Horne** Dartmouth SC 6 Cobra J. Davies, ** B. Strangford Lough Clarke 7* Pip Lt H.B.F. Marshall RNSA R.N. ** 8 Candour S.E. Hobson 9* Bakktakka P. Mepham 10 Zodiac I J.C. Whitelock * indicates measured boat, ** indicates member of the scorpion Class Association 10 11 The Early Years Despite the disagreements between Taprell Dorling and Colonel Honnor, the class grew rapidly. More than one hundred boats were constructed every year – in one way or another - throughout the 1960s. By 1964 there were 510 in Great Britain and 556 in the world, of which 350 were racing. A few ended up in Canada, Switzerland and the USA, but most of those were in Great Britain were in Ireland. By the end of the decade Sc 1077 had been built. An insight into its immediate popularity is given in the 1960 Dinghy Yearbook. 12 The idea behind the Scorpion was to produce – in the most popular 14 ft category – a hard-chine boat comparable to or better in performance than the most costly round-bilged classes, but of a price nearer to the less expensive knockabout boats. A most important point was that, in spite of high performance, the boat should not be an extreme type or difficult to sail. For easy building, hard-chine construction still cannot be beaten and all along the designer had felt that it was possible to produce a hard-chine boat with the necessary performance, but without the vices usually associated with the breed and with a hull form arrangement every bit as attractive as the more expensive round-bilged racing classes. The boat has an exceptionally good windward performance for a hard-chine design, planing very early indeed as well on a close reach. She is unusually stable on the plane, slices well to windward in a chop, and is a thoroughly good and dry sea boat. Notwithstanding this, she shows up unusually well in more sheltered conditions, the Broads, for instance, being a place where she has raced with considerable success. The Scorpion’s popularity was also due to its cheapness and availability to home construction. The winner of the 1962 13 Nationals had been made from a kit and it was claimed that another had been built from scratch by two 15 year old boys. One club that was particularly enthusiastic at the outset was Porthpean Sailing Club which sails in St Austell Bay. Here are some extracts from Porthpean Sailing Club’s history: 1959 ..