Classic and Vintage Dragons continued to be successful in the 2024 season. The most striking result was that Blue Haze, a 1959 Pedersen and Thuesen Classic, sailed by Ivan Bradbury, Lars Hendriksen and Georg Leonchuk, won the European Championship in Parnu, Estonia. Bluebottle, sailed by Graham Bailey, was fifth and Ron James’s Feilin’s Flirtation, now a Vintage boat, was thirteenth. A very successful expedition to the far end of the Baltic by the small British team.
More locally Whistle, a 1989 Borresen boat, sailed by Quentin Strauss, won the BDA East Coast Championship at Medway Yacht Club and Kismet, another Borresen boat sailed by Cathy Ogden, won the Scottish Championship from Wizz Too, sailed by Henry Boyd. The Aldeburgh Regatta was won by Basilisk, sailed by Patrick Gifford from Harkaway sailed by Tim Hannon.
Classic and Vintage boats are involved in the competition to be eligible for the draw for a new spinnaker. The qualification is to have competed in at least 50% of the scheduled races at a home club. Calculations are also underway for the multi-event competitions for Vintage and Classic boats, for which the prizes are liquid and to be presented at the BDA Annual Dinner.
Most improbably a Classic Dragon, Fine Art ex-Meltemi GBR419, a 1965 Pedersen and Thuesen boat has appeared in a mews in Kilburn, London NW6. It isn’t clear who she belongs to but she has clearly been there for a while. If anyone can shed light on this it might help to get her back into sailing condition and on the water.
Next year the Vintage and Classic Championships will be within the East Coast Dragon Championship at Burnham on 24th to 26th May. There are also two Classic events in Continental Europe, the Robbe and Berking Dragon Classic World Cup in Flensburg on 2nd to 7th July and the Wooden World Cup in Sanremo on 9th to 12th October. Classic and Vintage Dragons will, of course, also continue to participate in regattas and club sailing at all levels and to be successful, as this year, in many of them.
Patrick Gifford
Winter 2024