Messages

Thanks Ben et Al.
 
I think it goes to show how well Rowsell's were building the boats back in the '70's.
 
And Smilie, I think that there are 3 planks too many to the 4 plank series! Dinsdale is a genuine Rowsell 7 plank Doll. I believe from what Spud has told me is that Spud / Brian used the same frames for all their Dolls including China Doll herself - with the obvious changes to the first 3 feet of course. No doubt Phil could confirm this?
 
But to get back to the rules debate, I agree with Ben in that we should look at the origins of the class, however how many of the small 'puddle' & river clubs really still exist? I fear that the move to faster manufacturer one designs has to an extent meant that people have migrated to larger puddles?

Steve Hawkins makes an intersting point about going back to the 60's and 70's. It was a 'golden age' of Twelve building and some really pretty boats were built . Ok a lot tof these have goone to the great dinghy park in the sky but...........................

There are a number of boats that are still around, to look at they have definately lost their gloss, the decks are shot, foils have had a hard life but the hulls are still in good condition. To save the expense of making new frames etc, surely the way forward should be to aquire a golden oldie for a very cheap price on Ebay or the like and breath new life into it.

The main problem with boats from the 60's and 70's appears to be that the Aerolite used to glue the decks on has failed; for some reason this doesn't happen with a hull - possibly because the glue gets into the grain better  than it can with a sheet of decking? Spud, Kevin and I have debated this one at length!

And to prove that I practice what I preach, I bought Dinsdale for £150 on Ebay, let the boat dry out (for far too long!) and in 4 weeks an ugly duckling has become a swan. Fitting out will follow period practice of kicker, cunningham and outhaul. One or two more modern bits of thinking will also be put on - splitend main for example, but KISS is definately the motto.

And amazingly after 42 years the boat now weights less than when it was originally built . I think that it is also possibly stiffer and ready for the next 42 years.
 
 

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almost there...............................
 
It's amazing what 4 weeks has done.

And now the varnish is going on - 6 coats of 2 pack and we will go from there....................................

Kevin's doing a brilliant job and it looks like Dinsdale will be coming back from holiday very soon.............................
 
Now here comes a thought - with a name like Dinsdale should the boat be a she or he?

Work is progressing well........................................................
 
Back to sapele decks, sycamore gunwales and a more modern look to the transom

I remain to be convinced that cost is the reason for the lack of boats being built, I am sure that there are deeper rooted problems that need to be addressed.
 
I had a very interesting conversation with Kevin Driver yesterday on many things Twevle related standing beside the DCB molds that hadn't been used for about 2 years. From his prospective he needs a run of 6 boats to make it commercially viable, the Solo's, Grad's, Scorps', Streakers apparently have all managed to do that this winter as do the RS boats that they build for LDC. They are even in discussions on a build project for another National class where Kevin has built a prototype and is looking to take a mold and built 10+ boats.
 
With this in mind we looked at the Twelves that we had built, sailed and why. We both agreed that in all the above classes boats were being built for class members as a whole whilst the Twelves being built were for people aspiring to win Burton Week.
 
We then considered the physical profile of the people who can sail a Twevle compared to a Merlin, Scorpion etc and the truth is that you have to be on the lighter side on the current norm (Rules me out but Kevin the Whippet would still be ok!) Is the current national diet producing better nourished and hence larger people than the '60's and '70's did?
 
I wonder if we looked at the heyday of the class when boats were being built in garages, front rooms, student accomodation and anywhere else you could think of and get hold of. People had less pressures on their time, the life blood of the class - our children - didn't have computers, i-phones & social media to distract them to name up a very few.
 
I could go on, but possibly the class needs to look at itself very hard and establish exactly what it's offer and appeal is and then persue that route.
 
On a personal level I would like to see many more of the 'old' boats rescued from languishing and rotting away in the back of dinghy parks and brought back to life and am doing exactly that with Dinsdale. Ok Dinsdale will never be a competitive open meeting winner again but I will have a boat that I can do the occasional vintage wing open or CVDRA event with. But most importantly I will have a boat to enjoy sailing for the sake of sailing itself.

More photos from Dinsdale's holiday sunny Seaton................................

So here we go.....

Firstly I can't believe that it's over 7 years ago that I bought Dinsdale on e-bay. My initial intention was to get the boat back on the water quite quickley and enjoy some Tweleve sailing again but.......................
 
Whilst the hull had stood the test of time regrettably not much else had! The decks were shot, those lovely sycamore gunwhales had been replaced at some time with ash ones, the plate box had rotted, the foils - well I won't go there.
 
So the cunning plan was to strip Dinsdale back to basics and start again. The strip out went well, all the old fittings went to ebay, a Winder c/board purchased from Meds and then 2 knee replacements got in the way so in my garage Dinsdale languished gathering dust for 5 years.
 
And then after badgering from 'er in doors who shall always be obeyed (Mr Turner, does this sound familiar?) who suggested that a viking funeral was the way to clear the garage I realised that time and will had left me behind, but not all was lost, for some reason Kevin Driver took pity on Dinsdale and last November the boat went on an extended holiday to the east Devon resort of Seaton. Kev has now finished his winter work of building Grads, Solo's etc and Dinsdale has taken up residence in his workshop.
 
Hopefully the rebuild will be finished by the end of the month when I will get back a bit of bespoke furniture but in the mean time here are some pictures of the work in progress.

I have 2 centerboards that are surplus to requirements, one from 3062 and was I believe made by Waller & Richards, the other is from 2632 Dinsdale - and don't fret as I am replacing this original Rowsell board with a nice shiney Winder one.
 
Both boards are in scruffy but sound condition and before I put them on e-bay I thought that I would offer them to anyone in the class who needs one. Price wise make me an offer, all the funds will go to the final push to get Dinsdale back on the water for her (his?) 41st birthday next year. I have checked with Parcel force and the carriage is about £20.00 - it might end up as the large rate which puts it to £28.27.
 
I can arrange pics if anyone is interested?

I have put photo's from the weekend onto the Fotoboat website - www.fotoboat.com - and also for whoever is writing a report there are a number already with Y&Y.
 

And I am sure that I saw Meds putting in some cheeky practice on Saturday...................

Looks like an interesting project?

and another 3