K1 - Whats the point?

With this thread and the dinghy trials thread running, I posted on the cvrda site about the interest being shown in oild boats here. David Henshall, mr Bearface media, works for a rival publication so doesn't tend to post here, but I have cut and pasted his info on the discussions below.

"Regarding Peter Milne, the Typhoon, Wildfire and other developments, there appears to have been a little bit of confusion which I hope this short overview can clear up.

Ian Proctor designed the Typhoon as an advanced 2 person performance boat, with the idea that the hull would be a strict one design, built by a licenced builder in GRP, whilst the rig was open allowing restricted development. Bear in mind the situation at the time - the Fireball and 470 were still establishing their position, the only other boat at the time in competition with the Typhoon was the Hornet. Sadly, despite a number of novel ideas, the Typhoon bombed, with one famous helm who sailed it for one of the magazines describing it as a 'horrid boat to sail' ( a shame as it was a very attractive boat out on the water and gave helm and crew an exciting ride).

Ian Proctor also designed a mini Keelboat which as you've already seen is the Wldfire.

Peter Milne on the other hand designed a very similar boat which was called the Vulcan. All the usual Peter Milne sweetness in boat handling terms but like the Wildfire, the Vulcan too ended up on the list of Lost Classes. The Vulcan and Wildfire have their place in history though, as in a way they are the great grandparents of the sportboats revolution that is so market grabbing today.

And yes, Peter did do a mini FD, the Javelin, a class that has an albeit small niche but otherwise is still with us today. Like so many Milne boats, the Javelin was a joy to sail, all the more so in breeze when the long, easily driven hull really came into it's own.

To those worried about the proliferation of classes, they only have to look at the fate of the Typhoon, Wildfire and Vulcan to see that the dinghy sailing scene is remarkably resilient at ensuring that good boats succeed and the lesser offerings disappear into obscurity (which is why it is so hard to find details on these boats). Of course there is a danger that if someone comes along with an excellent boat, be it one person keelboat or two person high performance skiff, that the exsisting classes may have to make room for it. Best advice, based on how dinghy development has panned out so far, is to wait for that to happen, then see how the current boats measure up against the newcomer"

David Henshall
Bearfacemedia