Vintage and Classic International 14 Event at Grafham Water Sailing Club
by Trish Knight 10 Aug 2025 06:54 BST
2 August 2025
Race start during the Classic and Vintage I14 event at Grafham © Paul Sanwell / OPP
As interest in the Classic and Vintage International 14s continues to grow, the third 'get together' of the year was held at Grafham Water Sailing Club on Saturday August 2nd. Five boats of varying ages graced the green circle in front of the clubhouse to rig and share expertise.
All have been restored with the aim of getting them on the water rather than as museum exhibits - 'trying to keep the boat more or less "in period" and avoiding the temptation to add too many modern features'.
The oldest was:
'Daring' K201, designed and built by Uffa Fox in 1929 and winning the prestigious Prince of Wales cup in that year. She was the first fourteen to have a double skinned construction built of two layers of mahogany with canvas in between and thin rock elm ribs.
The guest crew for the day were Jonathan Jones and Richard Michelmore who previously sailed a more modern 14 in San Fransico Bay.
Next up:
'Sayonara' K366, designed and built by Uffa Fox in 1936. One of just a few boats with a pronounced V shaped bow to make it more suitable for river sailing. Another one still with a wooden mast. As usual she was in the capable hands of Paul and Karen Armitage.
These were the two pre-war vintage boats and then the three classics:
'Aquavit' K1048, an Opus Mark 1 designed by Charlton Bullock and built by McCutcheons on the Isle of Wight in 1975. It is an unusual design compared to others from that era as it has a very flat rocker line and hollow topsides near the bow.
A total of around eighteen boats were built to the same design or slightly modified versions such as Jon Perry's Firelord K1072 which was designated an Opus 1P. Sailing her were the two moth sailors Lyndon Beasley and Ian Marshall combining all their experience.
'Freebooter' K1078, is a Kirby VII built by McCutcheons in 1978. She was built for Jeremy Watson's father EF Watson and fitted out by him and his crew before the boat was sailed primarily out of Tynemouth Sailing Club.
The boat remained in the family until October last year when Tris Nelson became only her second owner. Since then she has been being refitted beautifully since in Ireland. As the 'new kid on the block', she was sailed by Tris Nelson and Peter Freyn accompanied by the 'Bearly Awake' Bear!
'Phantom' K1136 again a Kirby VII but this time built by A.M. Bond in 1983.
Noticeable for her blue hull and distinctive transom she was brought over from the river at Trent Valley and sailed by old hand Brian Wilmott and our youngest competitor Matt EJ.
After lunch, all five ventured out with a force 2 gusting force 4 and a pleasant temperature. Three back-to-back races were sailed under the careful direction of Dave Philpott as Race Officer. (Previous owner of 'Daddy Long Legs' K344). The constantly shifting wind led to multiple buoy movements between races but also meant there were many place changes, and the vintage boats were often in the mix with the classics. The event was rounded of with tea and cake!
Overall Results:
Vintage
1. Sayonara K336
2. Daring K201
Classic
1. Freebooter K1078
2. Aquavit K1048
3. Phantom K1136
We are extremely grateful to all those from the club who helped us host the event.
As many know, Tom Vaughan wrote a comprehensive history of the 14 fleet and created a register of all the boats. This register has now been updated by his son James Vaughan and can be found at
gbr.international14.org/yearbook-2
Over the last few years many classic and vintage boats have become available in a variety of states of repair from needing extensive renovation to fully restored and ready to sail. If you are interested in joining us do contact James Vaughan.