The life of N1149 Ibis. Design: , designed by: Jack Holt
Nll49 Ibis was purchased secondhand by my father for me in l954 when I was an l8yr. student and a member of the Cowal Holy Loch SC on the Clyde. She was one year old and came to Scotland from the southwest of England, one of the Holt 500 variations. She was probably very hi-tec for the time, with a wooden bendy mast, wide transom horse, stainless rod rigging and a mast jack to tension everything (a tommy bar was supplied to wind the mast up). She was one of the last boats to be built with nails and ribs. I sailed her in the first Scottish Nl2 (and Firefly) Championships in l956, won by Richard Roscoe (one of our club members at the time). Ibis came 4th. When I left the area after university, Ibis was sold to another club member, Bill Morgan.In those days a secondhand Nl2 was about £ll0; Nll49 cost my father £l40 as an almost new boat, with trolley, cover and cotton sails. I have black and white photos of her sailing and ashore.
Photos from Nigel Fordyce dating back to 1954 and 1955
More photos from Nigel Fordyce
Referencing a letter from Nigel...the first and third photos are of N1149 in the Cowal Holy Loch SC dinghypark in Sandbank. The second photograph(jib furled) is of Nigel Fordyce (helming) and Mary Gillespie sailing down to Ardnadam Pier for the start of a race. The fourth photograph is of Charlie Downs (helming) and Nigel crewing.
The photograph of Charlie and me sailing "Ibis" must date from about 1955. I heard recently that Charlie, a forestry worker turned schoolmaster, died a couple of years ago. I have often wondered what happened to the Cowal Holy Loch S.C. N12s when the Club voted to switch to Merlin Rockets. Very recently I picked up an indication that they had gone en masse to a sailing school at Tighnabruaich. It would be good to hear from anyone who knows the history and whether any survive. Nigel.