In
1963 the championships were held at Stokes Bay, and in 1964 at
Cowes. My boat was the original UK Cherub, a Spencer Mk 2 Scoobidou.
Entries were in the region of 28 or 30.The class had only just gone restricted, as opposed to one design. Previously as I remember it was basically a local class based at Cowes, and spinnakers and trapezes were simply not used. It was in, I think, 1963 that Greg Gregory introduced the Mk 3, with a wider transom, central sheeting and, bendy masts and booms. This latter was felt by some to be against the rules. It was his younger brother Rob who introduced the most revolutionary development, which was the use of wire luffed spinnakers for reaching, which in strong winds, with crew on trapeze produced impressive speed. The predecessor of asymmetrical spinnakers? The first time I saw them used was at an open meeting at Portsmouth Sailing Club summer 63. However to use spinnakers in strong winds on any point of sailing one needed the stability provided by a wider transom, the Mk2 just could not cope and simply lost stability the faster it went.
It
is interesting to see how dinghy racing has developed. I went
up to London University in Sept. 63 and started team racing on
the Welsh Harp, where I was taught roll tacking by the likes of
Eric Twiname and Mike Arnold. Subsequently used the technique
to help win the 64 championship. At that time it was certainly
unknown in the Cherub fleet.