“West Wight Potter’s are sailed everywhere!”

The first Potter was sold in 1963. Now, 26 years later, over 2000 of these thoroughbred little cruising dinghies are sailing in at least 10 different countries from America to Australia, and interest from Saudi Arabia and — yes — even those most skilful of small boat sailors, the French, have discovered our West Wight Potter.

Why? What advantages are there in sailing such a small and unusual looking craft? Is it expensive to become a Potter owner? Just why is ‘Pottering’ so popular?

Published in the 1989 summer newsletter (no 123), Stewart Moxham described his search for a Potter, and in the process described his unsuccessful visit to the Potter Boat Company — and also made disparaging remarks about my own boat as it failed to meet his expectations as he saw it on that day!

As it happened, I was also looking for a Potter last winter and wrote to the Potter Boat Company for assistance in finding a good used boat. I too was offered their works’ demonstrator, but warned that the boat was not fitted out as it had been used as a day sailing demonstrator for one season. On seeing the boat for the first time, my impressions were quite different to those described by Stewart Moxham. I immediately saw the opportunity to acquire a basic Potter which could then be fitted out to my own specification and ideas. I thought that the blue sails were attractive and suited this boat with its blue non-slip deck areas. The reefing problem was quickly overcome by fitting two inexpensive Holt-Allen reefing claws to the boom to provide roller reefing to the mainsail, the jib already having roller reefing capability. I remembered that the very first Potter ‘C’-type that I saw over twenty years ago also had a roller reefing mainsail.

The black rubber gunwales I immediately saw as a practical improvement. I have experience with Burma teak gunwales and they never look the same after a season on moorings, or having rubbed against a barnacle infested pile.

The boat then was certainly not ‘fitted out’, and, after a lively but friendly ‘haggle’ had developed, we shook hands on a mutually acceptable price and a schedule of work for the Potter Boat Company that included the fitting of two seven feet long V-berths, washboards and hatch all in teak and marine ply, cockpit locker cover, stem eye to the bows to assist recovery and cockpit cover hooks to the coamings.

Finally, the boat was loaded onto a brand new galvanised trailer (incidentally designed and built specifically by the firm next door to the Potter Boat Company, who have just recently become the new owners of the PBC). An outboard bracket and all standing and running rigging were already fitted to the boat in its role as a sailing demonstrator, so the specification is now very close to that of a ‘D’-type, but, for me, even better as I have many of my own ideas incorporated, such as blue washable berth cushions instead of the standard cloth covered production seats. I paid less than the £2000 originally asked of Stewart Moxham. So ends my sequel to the start of the story of this particular Potter as first seen by Stewart. The plain facts are that Potters are straightforward, no nonsense boats, easy to tow, launch, sail and recover. They are as inexpensive or as elaborate as the owners want to make them.

The boat sails as if she should be twice her size, thrives on being laden with gear, can go where no large yacht could go and, in the right hands, can sail wherever large yachts do sail, as witnessed by many epic ocean voyages. Most owners see the ‘Potter’s lines’ as pretty a craft as ever left a designer’s board, and 26 years have proved the Potter to be the thoroughbred she certainly is.