Classic Dayboat History
Bosham Sailing Club Classic Dayboat History
Is there any where else in this country where for 40 years a group of people have enjoyed a heady mix of competitive sailing in classic boats and great socialising in one of the most beautiful harbours in the UK ? That is the special blend behind Classic Dayboat (CDB) sailing at Bosham Sailing Club (BSC) in Chichester Harbour.
What started it all off ? In 1985 Peter Copp, a sailmaker and a member of BSC, who had recently taken ownership of a renovated 16ft carvel dinghy called Breeze built by Parham's of Emsworth (one of a few made), together with his club friends, who had similar dinghies, conceived of the CDB fleet so that these wonderful boats could be enjoyed. There weren't enough of any one type (in those days) to form a class of their own and none of them had a Portsmouth Yardstick. So, a personal handicap system was put into place which, it must be said, was probably designed to make each participant a winner every so often !! The Club's Red Book of 1985 shows 5 races listed the first being May 11th and the last on Regatta Day September 8th.
In August 1991 Classic Boat magazine published an article about the Bosham CDB fleet which shows the range (and colour) of the fleet. The article can be found here (Classic Boat CDB article Aug1991). The fleet continued to expand, and the Club's Red Book of 1997 listed the CDB fleet separately (CDB Boat list BSC 1997 Red Book)
What is a classic dayboat ? The 2001 Red Book contained the following definition being adopted for BSC purposes . "Yachts of a design that would have seemed familiar to spectators of Chichester Harbour races during the years up to the 1950's having no sheltered accommodation and having pivoting centreplates. Being more heavily built than a dinghy, such boats must be capable of being left on an open mooring"
All the original boats were wooden. Many were examples of the one-design dinghies that sprang up in virtually every port around the coast e.g. the Thames Estuary one design or the St Mawes one design. That traditional image continues to this day albeit that most of the boats now raced are built of GRP e.g. 14ft Yachting World dayboat or 12ft Tideway, both of which retain their original designs. Some development classes (National 18ft) have evolved into different hull shapes with considerably different sailing characteristics.
The core Classic Dayboat fleet inspired the creation of a dedicated Open National event the Classic Boat Revival (CBR). This was conceived to provide a unique occasion in the sailing calendar for a wide range of classic racing dinghies to showcase their capabilities. With over 50 classes participating over the years (including Albacore, Merlin, Firefly, Fireball, Osprey, International 14's and many more), the CBR became the premier event for classic dinghies nationwide. It ran successfully for nine years prior to the pandemic and is now waiting for appropriate organisational enthusiasm to re-ignite it !
This year, 2025, sees the 40th anniversary of this fleet racing continuously (apart from the pandemic years) and a series of events is planned culminating in a Trophy Weekend on the 27/28th September. The racing series now consists of 12 races as well as events at the Bosham Masters and BSC Regatta with 40+ boats regularly participating.
Over the next few weeks further articles will be written by the respective representatives of the fast, medium and slow fleets. It is hoped that these articles will help to spread the word to ensure the continual expansion of the CDB fleet. In the meantime, further research is being carried out to see if additional facts, pictures etc can be unearthed. If you have something that may be of interest, please let the Class Captains know.
Peter Lacey with input from Andrew Young, Adrian Weller and Paul Dewing
Downloads
Last updated 15:26 on 7 April 2025
