Suitable dinghies:- The West Wight Potter, still around after nearly thirty years in — and out of — production.

Some years ago, being fed up with having nowhere to keep my sandwiches, and wishing to make longer more relaxed passages than my Mirror would allow, I decided that I would buy a boat which had some fixed shelter. It had to be seaworthy, but had to have a bit of character. I had looked at a few boats which were easily trailable and looked like they would do the job, but some were boring and even downright ugly. Or worse than that, they were ideal but for me unaffordable. I decided to build a boat to meet my needs, as what I liked was expensive, and what I could afford was not what I wanted. In the mean time I thought I would still buy a boat to go on with, but would be less choosy knowing that I would still have the ideal boat.

I had read about a boat called the West Wight Potter, in which people had sailed considerable distances, but all this had happened before I was a boat owner, and so I knew little in the way of facts. I did find however that they had a gunter rig and wooden spars, both of which had been on my original ‘shopping list’. I made some enquiries and found that the boat had style — quite what kind of style is another matter — I suspect the influence of the Ford Motor Company is more in evidence than Laurent Giles. It had a shape that was distinctive, what was more, a West Wight Potter would fit inside the garage and I wouldn’t need a second mortgage. I scoured the press and eventually found a fairly new ‘D’ type — the Ghia version, having fir spars, wooden trim and cushions.

An off-print from a sailing magazine I had obtained described the boat as ‘legendary’. What did that mean, after all the Marie Celeste was legendary, so was the Titanic.

Sat on its trailer in the car park of a motorway service area, it did not look very legendary — still boats are meant for water so I bought it — after all I was only keeping it for a season or so — wasn’t I?

As I arrived with the boat at Coniston for a first sail, the first person I met said “Oh it’s a West Wight Potter — we had one here for years.” A little later in the year I was launching the boat at Mylor in Cornwall when a man approached me purposefully — “It’s a plastic West Wight Potter, I’ve never seen one. I’ve got a wooden one I’ve had for twenty years.” And so it has continued. I have had conversations with fishermen who have suggested good anchorages “for the old Potter.” Americans who had one “ …back home,” and ex-Potterers on very large cruisers who have remarked that the fun really is inversely proportional to the length of the boat — it seems there is a Potter underground! Yet as far as I know there is no West Wight Potter Association, just a lot of individuals who’s needs are met by this simple little boat.

Why the WW Potter stimulates such affection is not obvious, they don’t move very fast in light winds — an understatement! The cabin, especially on the plastic ones, is designed for thin contortionists and the cockpit space is limited. Yet under sail the Potter is very safe, very dry and gives one the feeling that it is bigger than it really is — until you land. This is much easier on a boat which one person can hop off, turn it around and push off. I often sail on mainsail alone if there is a fair bit of wind — this it does fairly well. Tacking in rough water can be a problem as the fairly large side area of the bow prevents the boat coming about. But there are ways around this problem. In fact one person can launch, sail and recover — and everything is pretty well within reach, or can be made so.

One thing which I find irritating is that although there is a large stern locker, it cannot be used for heavy items when sailing as the boat becomes trimmed down at the stern, especially if like me you stick an outboard on the back-end, and leave it there. This means that all the gear like anchors, etc. has to be stored fairly well forward in the cabin in the least accessible bit of the boat.

I am aware that some Potter owners ballast the boats to get over the trim problem. I have fitted a large battery just forward of the centreplate to compensate for the outboard — and run the VHF radio.

The earlier plywood boats did not have such a problem as there are other lockers available, and they are easier to get into. Early plywood Potters like P3 Water Mouse, belonging to Brian McClelland (photo) had a removable ‘lid’ allowing the boat to be used without the cabin top as an open boat. Brian has, you may notice, fitted a mizzen and an extra jib — which to a Potter is the equivalent of turbo-charging. Is this the oldest Potter still sailing?

So what are the origins of the Potter? Well it was designed by Stanley Smith, one of the early small-boat transatlantic sailors, to be simple, strong and seaworthy. It is fairly well known that he sailed a Potter to Sweden to deliver it — in October — being driven ashore by storms en-route. Smith barely escaped drowning. The Potter was washed ashore and pulled up on the beach by local Danes. When Smith was released from hospital he emptied out the boat and continued on his way after drinking a fair amount of Danish lager.

Versions of the boat have been built in GRP since the late sixties, with slightly different shapes of cabin top known as the ‘B’ type and the ‘C’ type. The original would have made moulding difficult I should imagine!

Apart from the usual gunter rig there have been versions with multi-coloured sails and alloy spars, some had junk rig. Mine was originally fitted with the strangest form of reefing system for a gunter rigged boat. An attempt to treat the rig as if it was Bermudan i.e. the yard was left aloft and the sail lowered. This had been converted to a system I had found difficult — frightening even — when alone in rough water so I have added a wire span and shackle in the traditional manner which works much better.

Although brave, possibly very small and slightly mad people have sailed Potters great distances, most people do what I do — just potter about in pleasant places with the occasional offshore adventure. Potter owners seem to keep their boats for a long time and have great affection for them. I know one DCA member who sailed his until he was in his nineties. Perhaps it’s the shape, perhaps it’s the sheer practicality of the boat — or perhaps a bit of both.

After I had written the bulk of this article, I received details of the new version of the Potter being produced in wood/epoxy by Pook Designs — unfortunately without wooden spars and a gunter rig — Mr Pook please note! Still I wish them luck, it would be nice to see Potters being produced into the next century.

I have started work on the ideal boat — honest; actually I started work just after I bought the Potter, but progress is slow. I would rather go sailing and the Potter makes that so easy.

Overall length 14’ 6” Waterline length 11’ 6” Beam 5’ 5” Draft plate up — 7” down — 3’ 0”

FURTHER POTTER INFO’

I have available copies of articles appearing in 1985 and 1987 in the American Small Boat Journal concerning the West Wight Potter — 11 pages in all. One is a story that makes Stanley Smith’s adventure look a picnic; with ideas for increasing buoyancy etc. The other is descriptive of the boat with ideas for improving the accommodation and other hints. If anyone would like a set please send me £2.65 to cover copying and postage, payable to the DCA.

Peter Bick — 3 Ashley Close, Sevenoaks, Kent TN13 3AP