24/02/2026
Well another Dinghy Show passes. They all seem to fall into one long memory. Tried to count how many I have attended and how many I was involved with in exhibiting one of my boats across several classes. Lost count, but this year was the first in many where I went home without a trailer on the back. Harrah one says, until they shut the A3 north of Guildford for a while (someone took out the central reservation). A great weekend with the same loyal team making sure it happened. Squirrel GBR 774, having been built in the early naughties for Piers Lambert, passing through Mark Cockrill (Aka Doris Glenn/Roz Euros), Kathy Sherrat (Watts) onto Dave Hayes and finally Lucy Loughton to win the 2025 Worlds in Sydney. What we managed to show this year on the class's 40 anniversary (42 years since the design concept was started), is that with careful progressive evolution and a bit of TLC along the way, the hull has stood up to time and has a fair number of years left in her to win. There was much interest being shown in the class and hopefully that will result in better attendances at TTs and a good turnout in June at Torbay for the Euros and Worlds. If you are thinking of attending or possibly an old B14 sailor looking to Charter, go to FB B14 Sailors and let the team know. The other option is a reasonably priced brand new one but to order now