Bluey was advertised as a 15 foot day-boat, the owner did not know its class, and 1 doubt whether he had sailed it much if at all. Measurement revealed that in fact it was only 140" (4.24 metres) long (it does look larger), and 5' 1" (1.54 m) beam. The traditional ‘cod's head and mackerel tail' plan, and tumblehome beam showed that it was based on a pre-war design, replicated in heavy GRP with a wooden keel bonded in. The small foredeck and the gunwale timbers were amateur additions, but many fittings were bronze. It is very heavily built, and with its large 3/8" (9.5 mm) centreplate it must weigh over a quarter ton (>0.25 tonnes). The mast, boom and rigging are modern, as is the mainsail. They are obviously second-hand from other boats, but the aged foresail may well be the original. An unusual feature is two massive aluminium cleats on the bottom of the boat. Bluey has now been recognised by the Hostellers Sailing club as a 1950's Cowes built boat. They had one, and they say another DCA member had one on the East Coast, but I still don't know the builder's name or the class name.

Since it was a heavy old-fashioned design, I naively thought that it would attract DCA approval, but that was not necessarily the case! Comments included: 'Probably unsafe!' (Most truly traditional boats are unsafe by modem standards); 'Slow!' (All 14 foot cruising boats are slow by 16 foot Wayfarer standards, and anyway it managed to pass David Jones' 16'6" Proctor-designed Beaufort on a reach.¹); 'Poor windward performance' was another criticism, yet another member actually sailing with me commented on its close-windedness under mainsail only. A member said that this type was difficult to right from a capsize (Most truly traditional boats were), and advised me to take it straight to the corporation tip. My son Ed took one look and turned his head away in disgust. Yet it has so much in common with his beloved Dockrell! The most extreme reaction was 'Get rid of it Len, we don't want anything terrible to happen to you!' On the other hand some experienced members were encouraging, 'A fine looking boat', 'She points very high under mainsail only' and, from an old yachtmaster-instructor, 'a fine boat, far too good for you!'

It has been hard to properly evaluate the boat, because there has been so much experimentation with second-hand gear and sails off other boats. (Don Alexander, Ted Jones and Colin Newnes have all contributed to its current sail wardrobe.) Performance in light and fluky breezes, with a small mainsail, above the Hamble bridges was disappointing, but experimental gear failure did not help. Next day a sail over to Cowes and back in a good breeze was invigorating. It is fairly heavy to row so I have reluctantly added an outboard motor, a 1975 vintage Seagull 40 plus longshaft, again with a DCA history. (Peter Baxter and Mark Tingley are among the motor's previous DCA owners.) The motor has been upgraded to take a 25:1 mixture, and has a recoil starting cord added. Like all Seagulls, it is heavy and noisy, and you have to switch the fuel off before stopping otherwise the carburettor leaks into the boat. Otherwise it is not a bad motor.

It could be that all the comments have some truth in them. Yes, my 14 foot Leader is a better boat in many ways, but it can be a handful for an old man single-handed in a blow. Ed said that I should have bought myself a Cormorant, or a Cruz. The Cormorant has a good hull, but I don't like its heavy, time-consuming, retro-styled rig. Besides, how good is the Cormorant's capsize-recovery? As for the Cruz, yes it is a sensible modem design, but how effective is its reefing? Or indeed its capsize recovery? Anyway, I just cannot muster up quite enough enthusiasm for it. Others say I should have got a Wayfarer, but the Wayfarer is a big heavy boat for an old man to manage single-handed (I am not in Frank Dye's class!) Bluey does have the advantage of good initial stability, and anyway, like most DCA members I like to have a boat that is different. It is more genuinely traditional than most modern retro-styled 'traditional' boats. As far as I am concerned the jury is still out.

¹It has to be said that the Beaufort was being sailed under reefed mainsail only, whereas Bluey was carrying a genoa. On the other hand I was sitting in my boat, whereas David was sitting his up.