The first quarter of the year is a low period for Dragon activity so there isn’t very much news. The various southern European winter series have seen excellent results in Cannes for Dmitry Bondarenko in Heuschrecke (GBR422) his Classic Pedersen and Thuesen Dragon, finishing second in the Coupe de L’Amitie, and Ron James, who finished third in the same event and also in the Commodore’s Cup. Ron’s Dragon Fei Lin’s Flirtation, a 1998 Borresen cold-moulded boat which he has owned throughout its life. There aren’t very many of these boats but several have performed very well over the years and they are now Vintage.

The BDA Classic and Vintage Championships will be held this year within the BDA East Coast Championship at Burnham on 24^th to 25^th May. I am told that Quentin Strauss will be there in Whistle, his 1989 Borresen Dragon,  to defend his East Coast title and also to bid for the Vintage Championship, currently held by Patrick Gifford in Basilisk, a 1986 boat, also built by Borresen. It seems likely that there will be at least four visitors to Burnham from Aldeburgh so the event should see a good turnout. The other events specifically for wooden boats are the Robbe and Berking Classic Dragon World Cup in Flensburg on 2^nd to 6^th July and the Wooden World Cup in Sanremo on 17^th to 20^th September.

There is progress towards the water among the Classics. Both Chime (GBR380) in Aldeburgh and Penguin (GBR301), currently in Bristol but aiming for Cowes, are in the later stages of full-scale restoration and expect to be in the water this summer. Meantime Logie has been sold locally in Essex, though I am unsure what plans are for her. Rupert Street now has La-ju in Cowes and in commission. She is unusual in that she still has the original layout with a long cabin top, doors and bunks. Very different from a Petticrow V.6!

There are a number of Classics for sale at all price and condition points, ranging from “Free to a Good Home” to very well restored boats fully capable of competing at any level. Interestingly Norman Allyn from Canada is bringing Mistral, his Borresen past winner of the World Championship, to the Sanremo regatta and she will be for sale thereafter. She has been very painstakingly renovated and should be capable of excellent performance.

As the sailing season begins, let’s hope to see more Classic and Vintage boats out sailing and that the weather encourages participation.  

Patrick Gifford

News is thin on the ground in the winter so this review will be quite short.

Do note the BDA’s Classic and Vintage Championships for 2025. They will be held within the BDA East Coast Championship at RCYC, Burnham on Crouch on May 24^th to 25^th. They are the only events specifically for Classic and Vintage Dragons in the UK, though all other Dragon events are of course open to them.

For the more adventurous there are two regattas for Classic Dragons in 2025. They are the Robbe and Berking Dragon Classic World Cup in Flensburg on 2^nd to 6^th July and the Wooden World Cup 2025 in Sanremo on the 17th to the 20th of September. The latter permits wooden boats of any construction.

On the racecourse Bluebottle (Graham Bailey), Blue Haze (Ivan Bradbury), Repeat Offender (Phil Walker) and Fei Lin’s Flirtation (Ron James) as well as the ex-British Heuschrecke (Dmitri Bondarenko) have all competed at various winter series in Iberia and the Mediterranean with considerable success though as yet no overall victory.

In Aldeburgh Chime’s rebuild continues to make progress and there even seems to be an end date in the middle of the summer. She will undoubtedly look very smart and much improved from her earlier state when this happens. Aldeburgh also expects to welcome Monica next year in the hands of Noah di Paola and Hugh Rich has taken on Apache from the Gibbon family while deciding what to do about Inditine.

Rather surprisingly Fine Art (ex-Meltemi) GBR419, a Pedersen and Thuesen boat built in 1965, has reappeared in a mews in Kilburn in inner London. Her owner hopes to be able to restore her and I hope he is successful. She needs serious restoration but remains a boat originally built to the highest standard.

Finally, for those interested in the unusual, I’ve attached some photos of the only two Dilongs. They are Dragons, but completely re-rigged. One of them is an ex-British boat, Highlander D-GBR-485, a cold-moulded boat built by Peter Wilson and originally called Ganymede II. I do think that wrestling with a jackyard topsail and the very large spinnaker would give even the best professional crew something to think about!

Winter will end soon!

Patrick Gifford

Image credit: Christian Boillot