A Guide to Cherub Designs

This is a list of U.K. Cherub designs compiled by various people over the years. It is believed to comprise all designs built in any numbers, and the vast majority of one-offs.

Note - the links to individual designs in this document load a page of graphics showing those designs. These should be helpful in gaining a feel for the shapes of the designs involved, but are definitely not warranted accurate.

The Sixties and Earlier

In the early days design numbers in the UK seem to have been kept in step. For instance so the only recorded Jeffries design is the Jeffries 5, a Greg 5 development. U.K. development was not really influenced by the Antipodes until the Spencer 7 was introduced.

Spencer (modified) mk2 (NZ)
Adopted as a one-design when the class was introduced to the UK. Many different deck layouts. These early boats are typically fairly narrow with small transoms and plenty of rocker, especially forward of the mast. A boat of this era looks something like a small Scorpion.

Spencer 2a
No built in buoyancy, bags under decking. e.g. 151, 258.

Spencer 2b
Conventional built in bow and side tanks and also a stern tank. e.g. 154, 645.

Spencer 2c
Double-bottom self draining. e.g. 155.

Spencer 2d
Fully rolled side tanks, with or without stern tanks or semi-length false floor. e.g. 157, 634, 650.

Spencer 2e
Conventional bow and side tanks with hinged plate instead of dagger board. e.g. 695.

Casson 2
Full main bulkhead, minimum width side tanks, daggerboard. e.g. 629.

Gregory 2
As Spencer 2d, but with full length hinged plate. e.g. 660.

Gregory 3
The first real UK design after the NZ restrictions adopted. Wider chines at transom, full length centrecase, low bow tank, double skin floor. Early versions 703, 704. Later versions had side tanks widened aft. e.g. 717,738,918.

McCutcheon 2
Similar to Mk 2e but with wider transom and half height bow tank. e.g. 709, 735.

Casson 4
Similar to Mk 3, but with shorter plate, single skin floor and full main bulkhead. e.g. 727, 1006.

Hawkesworth 2
Similar to Mk 2d, no stern tank, wider transom, bulge in bow sections. e.g. 698.

Gregory 3a
Similar to Mk 3, but with integral spray chine forward. e.g. 921, 923, 1002.

Gregory 4/4a
Somewhat wider than Mk 3. Again the a denotes the presence of the spray chine. E.g. 1010.
Gregory 5
More beam but narrower transom. Fuller bow with integral spray chine. Max. rise of floor at mid-length. e.g. 920 1005.

Gregory/Howard 5
Extra beamy version of Mk 5. e.g. 1012.

Jeffries 5
Basically a simplified dagger plate version. e.g. 1008.

Gregory 6a
Max chine beam further aft, spray chine, narrow side tanks, very wide. e.g. 1017.

Gregory 6
As above but no spray chine. e.g. 1018.

Gregory 6p
As above but hull in glass fibre and slight reverse camber in topsides at transom. e.g. 1019, 1020.

Forman 1
Extreme Mk 5 development, 6' ,3" beam, no spray chine, plate retracts under foredeck, semi-rolled decks. e.g. 1025.

Spencer Mk 7 (NZ)
Orthodox dagger plate NZ design. Shallow foredeck rise, sidedecks slope down outboard and merge with foredeck. e.g. 1361, 1363, 1372

McCutcheon 8
Modified Mk 7, with fuller bow sections, hinged plate, inward sloping sidedecks. e.g. 1015, 1369.

Barton/Spencer 7
Mk 7 with forward retracting plate. e.g. 1377, 1510.

Forman 2
Narrower development of Mk 1, 5' 8" beam, cambered topsides, convex fwd, concave aft. Sliding plate. e.g. 1496.

Forman 3
6' 3" beam, extremely narrow bow, chine angle disappears at transom, sections more rounded, less veed. e.g. 1652.

Spencer 8 (NZ)
Design for heavier crew weight. Wider chines than Mk 7.

Spencer 7b
GRP version produced by Peter Caisley.

Caisley/Steele 1
Mk 7 with swinging plate.

Jennifer Julian (Bowler) (NZ)
Narrow beam, deep veed, low keel rocker. Versions exist in ply, GRP and GRP/foam sandwich. e.g. 1717. Russell Bowler won the first (1970) World Championships, held on the Swan River, Perth, Australia. Russ' Bowler is now a partner in Farr Yacht Design

Foam Sandwich construction seems to have started in NZ with 12ft Skiffs. According to Richard Gladwell of Sailing NZ:-
"The foam skiff saga began in 1968 with the construction of Query by Don Lidgard and Tony Bouzaid - it was a 12ft skiff and went on to win the Interdominion in 68/69. Query was the second 12ft to be built in foam - the first was Miss Hycel, which was shaped from a solid block of foam in 1967. But Query was the first planked boat.
Then followed two 18ft skiffs - Miss IGA for Dave Kean, later - Theory for Lidgard and Bouzaid.
Jennifer Julian, the 12ft skiff, was the first round bilge foam skiff, and was built by Russell Bowler and Dave McGlashan, who were the current National Cherub Champions. In the 1968 season there were five foam boats launched."
Jennifer Julian, the Cherub, was actually built in Perth. Russell and Peter Walker were living om actually didn't qualify for the NZ team for the first Worlds, so they moved to Perth and built the foam & glass Cherub there, and subsequently won the Worlds in it, presumably sailing for Australia! Russ then went on to England, and helped to build at least one foam sandwich boat in the U.K. with David Steele. It seems likely that this was the first foam sandwich racing dinghy built in the U.K.