I read Mr. D. Cole’s letter about small cruisers in the last issue with particular interest and while I agree with much that he says, there are some points on which I would like to comment.

Firstly, in summarising the A.G.M. discussion on ‘when is a dinghy not a dinghy’ he has drawn a false conclusion concerning admission of persons owning cabin boats. At no time has it been a D.C.A. rule that members should own dinghies. An interest in dinghy cruising is sufficient. Hence we cannot expect any sudden increase of membership as he suggests.

Secondly, to give a general all-embracing definition of a dinghy or even of a cruising dinghy is, I think, impossible. Even a particular boat may as Mr. Cole rightly says, be difficult to classify. However, there are plenty of boats which clearly are open, un-ballasted small sailing craft and in which ‘pure’ dinghy cruising is enjoyed. If the bulk of our membership becomes cabin boat owning, then surely we have failed in our object. I agree that modern pocket cruisers have a lot in common with dinghies, but they cannot contribute much to the particular problems of the open boat cruiser.

Finally, having said this about small cabin boats I feel that although we agree to there being no restrictions on the types of boat members own, it is preferable for group officers of the Association to be members whose boats are easily recognisable as dinghies, hence I shall be resigning as S.E. secretary at the next A.G.M. It is high time we had a change anyway!

Yours faithfully, R.F. Long