Orkney Dinghies
Last updated 14/10/2018
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. Sailing has a long history in the Orkney Islands, from the viking longships to the local skiffs and yoles and then more recently the modern fibreglass racing boats. The Snipe became a significant Orkney class in the 50s when boat plans became available which a number of local folks used. A number of other classes have also been popular in the islands, incuding the Albacore, 505, Merlin Rocket, Wayfarer, Laser, Topper, Mirror and Enterprise.
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 In 1950 the class established itself in Orkney, beginning with wooden home built boats which were then superseded by modern fibreglass boats.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 return 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 more modern 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 trapeze converted 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.
Westray had an active class of Enterprises for a time, some of which were locally built, and some moved to Kirkwall.
| Holm Snipes | Stromness Snipes | Miscellaneous Dinghies | Old Snipes | Old Boats |
Holm Snipes
| 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 Snipesback to top |
|||||
| 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
| Type | Sail Number | Boat Name | Owner | Photos | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 505 | 7698 | Temeraire | David Clouston | 1 | |
| 505 | 8816 | Dick Dastardly | John Orr | 1 2 | |
| Albacore | Ginger Nuts | Peter Mills | 1 2 3 | ||
| Albacore | 7515 | Barbarian | Brian Pottinger | 1 | |
| 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 | Harry Siderfin | ||||
| 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 | 1 | ||
| Laser | 54573 | Pato | Joshua Brown | 1 2 | 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 EPS | 111 | Muttley | John Orr | ||
| 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 | Fair Dinkum | Simon Butcher | |||
| Wayfarer | 7336 | Eclipse | Steve Bunning | 1 | ex. Donnie Sinclair |
Old Snipes
| 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
| 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 | |
| Wayfarer | 9120 | Das Spoot | Alan Hale | 1 2 | |
| Westray Skiff | Mizpah | William Grieve |
