Although I was not sailing Gulls back in the early 60's (a decade before I was born), reading the 1963 Gull Class Owner's Association Handbook fills me with nostalgia for an age when people got together and devoted themselves to doing things properly. And, what an active fleet the Gull class had.
The first Gulls appeared on the market in 1957 and the class took off immediately. Renowned dinghy designer Ian Proctor, who developed the Gull for Gordon Pollard of Small Craft was the first to place an order for the boat. When not being raced sail number 1, know as "Jolly Roger", served as a press boat as the following extract in Ian's own words tells us:
My Wife and I took her to Torbay, where I was reporting on the Dragon [big fancy racing keelboat. Sailed to this day by people who take themselves far too seriously. Chris.] championships for the Daily Telegraph, and we used her as a press boat; in the final race it was blowing enough for a Dragon to snap her mast and afterwards one of the competitors sent me a cartoon showing Dragons plunging through the ocean, with ripped sails and collapsing masts, while the Gull sailed serenely through the wreckage.
Ian also sailed his Gull across the Solent to Cowes to report on the round the Island race. Now I can see why "aurora" can handle those waters so well when I sail her out into the Solent myself from time to time.
So influential was the Gull's class committee that they managed to persuade the Royal Yachting Association to accept the Gull as the first recognised RYA dinghy class. Throughout the 60's and 70's the Gull went from strength to strength. I'm aware that there are still some Gulls in North America but the Handbook tells us that the Canadian Gull Association was formed in 1963 and this would also undertake admin for Gulls south of the border in America.
The 1963 Gull handbook is a wonderful document as many of you who have received a soft copy will agree. From the simple blue cover, information inside that hints at a very active fleet, Class rules, black and white period photos, through to the charming 1960's advertisements towards the back.
I don't know where it went wrong for the Gull Class Association. I only started to get involved in 2004. At the time we had an annual Inland Championship held at Horning Sailing Club and a Nationals. The Nationals that I attended where held at my home club of Dorchester on Thames, Bewl Valley Sailing Club and Herne Bay on the North Kent coast. All of these events where great fun. More recently we have held cruising events in the Norfolk broads. But ,in reality, the GCOA has ceased to exist. Unlike the Halcyon days of the 20th century people don't seem to have the time or desire to attend events and join committees.
Such is my passion for the Gull dinghy that in the autumn of 2008 I decided to start this blog and as a result I've come to realise that there is still a loose but huge following for the Gull. And as long as people show some interest in this versatile and tough little boat I shall be here to record that somewhere out there someone is grinning as they sail to windward with the spray hitting the jib and the sunlight dancing off the waves.
Huge thanks to Stephen Foote who unearthed this document. It will be looked after and helps us in our never ending task of preserving the Gull.
A copy of the GCOA handbook (1963) can be made available to people who sign up to the mailing list.
Contact me on - chrisabela(at)hotmail(dot)co.uk
I also have a copy of the Anglo Marine Gull Spirit handbook. The latest handbook is available from Hartley Lamintes (current makers of the boat) but, to my mind, is more generic and less Gull specific.
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