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Orkney Dinghies

Last updated 27/3/2018

Below is a listing of Orkney Sailing Dinghies. Included are most of the Holm Snipe fleet, past and present, as well as a selection of boats from the other local clubs. Historically the Snipe has dominated Orkney's small boat sailing scene. In years past various classes have had their day but none have lasted as well as the Snipe.

For further reading concerning a historical perspective of Orkney Dinghy sailing see the Old boats and boat stories pages.

The Snipe class design originated in 1931, and the class became popular as a home build route to fun on the water. In 1950 the class established itself in Orkney, beginning with wooden home built boats which were then superseded by modern fibreglass boats. In 2014 the UK Snipe National Championships were held in Orkney, with the boats sailing from the Ness in Stromness for racing in the Bay of Ireland. The event was a great success and then the class chose to come back to Orkney again in 2017. The 2017 event was run from Kirkwall using the facilities at Hatston (the Hatston slip and the RYA Training centre were used). The event attracted a number of boats from South and a number of local boats also took part.

Other classes have been successful in Orkney as well as Shetland and the North of Scotland.

The Merlin Rocket was popular for many years, particularly in Kirkwall. Some of the early boats were home built, then in the sixties some later boats were brought North from Buckie in England. Dan Grieve moved from the Merlin Rocket to the Albacore and had great success with Mizpah. A number of the Merlin Rocket sailors followed his wake into the one design class (perhaps the Merlin Rocket development class became too costly) and the Albacore became a popular local class. The Albacore is still popular in Shetland, but has largely died in Orkney. In the early 80s Ian Pole inherited a 505 from Shetland, the attractions of high speed, big sails and trapeeze coverted a number of other Orcadians and there was soon a class of six active boats. The Wayfarer became popular as a cruising boat in Orkney, and the class was put to good use as a training craft. James Clouston built a fine example which made use of all design latitude allowed in class rules, Smyril was born. Smyril was a legend in her day winning all of the local events and often finishing ahead of 505s.

Yachting World published a design for a wooden home built catamaran. This design proved to be inspirational for a generation of Orkney speed merchants. The class eventually gave way to progress and a number of sailors moved on to the more modern Hobie 18 catamaran. The Hobies' popularlity has fluctuated over time and always provides a great spectacle at local regattas with their high speed and coloured sails.

The Laser has attracted a particular type of sailor for many years. The low maintenance, easily rigged simple boat which offers competitive racing as well as high speed off the wind thrills is a perfect combination for many sailors, especially those who have difficulty keeping a regular crew. An additional attraction of the Laser is the Island Games. 

Holm Snipes Stromness Snipes Miscellaneous Dinghies Old Snipes Old Boats

Holm Snipes

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  Boat Name Owner Photos Number Comments
H1 Erma Jack Foubister 1 2 3 4  
H2 Viking Alfie Flett 1  
H4 Tic-Tac Sheena Taylor   23981 ex Bonxie
H5 CrewZen Audrey Cameron 1 2 3 4 23626 Bought from Neil Foubister 2010
H6 Skeldro Doodie Robertson 1 2 19327 Bought from Raymond Grieve 2012
H7 Kontiki Holm Sailing Club 1 2 3 20639
H8 Fleetwing Fred Johnston 1 2 3  
H9 Still Game Raymond Grieve 1 2 3 4 26159 New 2012
H10 Red Bull Holm Sailing Club   20352 new 2011
H11 Topaz Holm Sailing Club 1 21910
H12 Scheme Buoy Russ Madge 1  
H13 Jaws Mark Causer 1 2 3 4 26581 ex Witchy Woman
H15 Smurf Mairi Fleet 1 2 3 4 5 20350 New 2010
H16 No Fear Neil Foubister 1 2 3 4 5 6 21724 New 2008
H17 Cobra Magnus Bain 1 2 28550
H19 Siesta Holm Sailing Club 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 20349
H21 Fiddlesticks Neil Foubister 1 2 20375
H22 Moonstone Andrew Leslie 1 2 3 4 24152
H23 Hamba Sheena Taylor 1 2 3 27330
H24 Aquamania Malcolm Gordon 1 2 3 4 5 20224
H25 Rio Simon Kemp 1 2 3 4 19838 new 2011, ex. Aqua Vitae
H26 Aeolus Charlie Siderfin 1 2 21453
H Wild Goose Micheal Foubister 1 2 3 22778 changed hands 2016

Stromness Snipes

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S Njord Sheena Taylor 1 20351
S Nemo Stromness Sailing Club 1 2 3 4 5 23233
  Scooby Donny Hall 1 24705
S Boreas Ian Johnston 1
S Go Quickly Red Malcolm Tipler 1 2 3 4 5 6 20690
S Go Faster Blue Peter Tipler 1 2 3 24704
S Valhalla Gordon Hill 1 2 3    
S Noringa Gordon Hill  
S Vendetta Kenny Holland 1
S Bonxie James Burgon 1 2 3 4 5 20558
S Silver Fern   1 15760  
S2 Jual Scott Tulloch    
S Mercury Too Kenny Holland   20641 Bought from Freddy Johnston 2010
S Hassfang Harvey Dunnett 1 2 3 4 20980 Bought from Alan Donaldson 2008
S Freyr Mark Taylor 1 2 20557  

Longhope Snipes
L Humdinger    
L Lady Midnight    

 

Other Orkney Dinghies

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Type Sail Number Boat Name Owner Photos Comments
505 7698 Temeraire David Clouston 1  
Albacore   Ginger Nuts Peter Mills 1 2 3  
Albacore 7515 Barbarian Brian Pottinger 1  
Alto   Aegir David Sabiston    
Buzz     Sam Craig   new 2015
Enterprise 19754 Duan Barbara Bailey    
Fireball 14499 Nimrod Andrew Leslie   new 2012
Fireball 111 Sonic   1  
Firefly 519 No Regrets Lyndi Birss   ex Presto
Laser     Ed Johnstone   new 2014
Laser 117289 Shakira Ross Sinclair 1 2 ex. Ian Rushbrook
Laser 108697 Skellum Ann Shearer 1  
Laser 177823 Warspite Andrew Leslie 1 2 3  
Laser 147138 Libertine II Fredrik Sundman 1 ex. Lazy Linda
Laser   Enron Mark Holbrook    
Laser 54573 Pato Joshua Brown   New 2016
Laser   Little Gem Michal Meszka 1 2 3  
Laser 179546   Peter Tipler    
Laser 47396 Moonshadow Barbara Bailey    
Laser 167778   Neil Brown    
Laser     Stromness Sailing Club    
Laser     Charlotte Wallhead   bought from Willie Brown
Laser   St. George Jonathan Walters 1  
Laser 4000   Deep Blue Laura Johnstone  
Laser 4000     Lee Sinclair  
Merlin Rocket 1203 Ella Harcus Hutchison 1 2 3 4 5  
Merlin Rocket 1320 Rural Girl Brian Kent 1  
Merlin Rocket   Auk Robert Hutchison
Merlin Rocket 2777 Leviathan   1 Longhope, ex Raymond Grieve
Mirror 46608 Pink Panther Isla Dowell    
National 12 2090 Pussy Willow Nathan Omand 1 2  
Optimist   Alfonso Filip Meszka 1
Phantom   Skeiron Lee Thomson  
Snipe   Aegir Alan Donaldson 1
Wayfarer 7676 Smyril Jimmy Clouston    
Wayfarer 4550 Andante Micheal Miller 1 2  
Wayfarer 9120 Das Spoot Alan Hale 1 2 Alan Hale died 2013
Wayfarer   Fair Dinkum Simon Butcher    
Wayfarer 7336 Eclipse Steve Bunning 1 ex. Donnie Sinclair

 

Old Snipes

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  Boat Name Owner Photos Number
H1 Zephyr Jock Simpson    
H3 Gallinago Holm Sailing Club   284
H4 I'm Alone Willie Alan 1  
H6 Parsnip Lindy Birss   15559
H6 Firewood Sinclair Muir 1  
H7 Kontiki Norman Johnston 1 20639
H9 Tyro L. Johnston    
H10 Valhalla J. Foubister    
H11 La Rocca Raymond Aim 1  
H12 Sceptre Leslie Johnston    
H14 Teeack E. McLennan 1  
H15 Margarita Jim MacDonald 1 15481
H18 Snoopy   1 22471 scrapped 2012
S Vendetta Kenny Holland   19327
H13 Water Music Alastair Tullock    

 

Old Orkney Dinghies

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Type Sail Number Boat Name Owner Photos Comments
470   Zendik Donald Glue    
505 8457 Best Kens David Sabiston 1 2 3 4 also Leslie Tait
505   Lintie Ian Pole    
505   Abra Leslie Tait   also David Sabiston
Albacore 629 Vanity Dick Percival 1
Albacore 2006 Mizpah Dan Grieve 1 2
Albacore   Samara Donald Glue 1 also Bruce Dunnett
Albacore   Galatea Tom Flett 1
Albacore 5689 Moonshadow Raymond Grieve    
Albacore   Corona Raymond Grieve    
Alto   Aegir David Sabiston    
Enterprise   Myrlin J. P. Drever    
Enterprise   Ella Norman Cooper    
Enterprise   El Diablo Billy Brown    
Enterprise 12275 Merry Dancer John Leslie 1  
Enterprise 12243 Diana J. Burgher 1  
Laser EPS   Defiant Brian Kynoch    
Laser 155890 Cracklin Rosie Neil Burgess   sold 2010
Merlin Rocket 407 First Attempt Dan Grieve 1  
Merlin Rocket 817 Freya Ronnie Drever 1 2 3  
Merlin Rocket   Snoopy Ian Eunson 1
Merlin Rocket   Tyste David Kemp 1
Merlin Rocket 740 Rock'n Roll John Tait 1 2 Longhope
Merlin Rocket   Skadi Leslie Tait    
Merlin Rocket   Skidbladnir Leslie Tait    
Merlin Rocket 2077 Vendi Vidi Vici John Skea    
Merlin Rocket 3227 Souper Trouper Alaric Beckingham 1 2 3  
Redwing   Saga Willie Groat 1 Willie Groat died 2013
RS400 1044 Jammie Dodger Peter & Kay Mills   sold 2008
Westray Skiff   Mizpah William Grieve