Hilbre One Design Information

The Hilbre One Design is a racing keelboat built to a strict design specification and raced at West Kirby Sailing Club in north west England. The class is named after an island in the mouth of the river Dee. To date there have been 55 built. The first boat was completed in 1958 but most of the 56 examples built were constructed between 1960 and 1963. The class has a Portsmouth Yardstick of 1290.

In 1956 a committee meeting was held at West Kirby Sailing Club with the proposal of expanding their Star fleet, at the time there was a majority view of Star owners that the fleet should not be expanded (11 in favour, 1 against, 2 abstentions) at the current time but instead a new boat somewhat larger than the 16ft Star should be developed with "a more modern design and a more solid construction than the Liverpool Bay Falcons" This proposal became the Hilbre One Design. Designer Alan Buchanan was comissioned to build a sturdy shallow drafted boat with a drop keel suitable for use on the Dee estury which could be used for both racing and family picnics. The design had to cope with the shallow waters and strong tidal effects and moorings which dry out twice a day. Buchanan's design was for 19 feet 9 inches long boats, built of wood, with a clinker built hull. Their draught is 4ft 5in with their centre plate lowered, and 1ft 7in with it raised. They had a displacement of 2700lbs (including the 500lb drop keel) and looked more like a yacht than a large dinghy. The original design had a flat stern but the committee decided to change this to one with an over hang similar to a Seabird Half Rater and also to add a small cuddy for day and family sailing.

The original boat Hilbre, number 1, was demonstrated in the Menai Straits in 1958 however during her trip from the builders, Williams & Nixon in Deganwy to the straits she was dismasted whilst under tow! This failed to put off interest and 7 boats were ordered to be built by Enterprise Boat Company in Rock Ferry and Williams & Nixon in Deganwy, 6 for private owners and the 7th to be raffled by West Kirby Sailing Club.

The Hilbre Association was formed in 1960 to preserve the one design principles, which were threatened by the use of seven different boat builders who constructed the majority of the 55 strong class within a 3 year period each offering a list of extras to suit the prosecitve owners needs, however most of these concerened the interior layout and did not effect the sailing performance.

By the early 80's the majority of the fleet were located on the river Dee, with 22 boats at Dee SC, 18 at West Kirby and 5 at Tranmere Sailing Club on the Mersey, but following the closure of Riversdale Technical College the fleet at Tranmere ceased to exist as the boats were sold off.

Boats carry on overlapping genoa as well as a smaller No1 jib and a spinnaker. Class rules permit windows in these sails, and currently permit three official sailmakers: North Sails, Speed Sails & Pinnel and Bax. The Hilbre has a small cabin, which allows the boats to be used for day sailing as well as racing: Hilbres have crossed from the Dee to the Menai Strait and back many times, with the fastest trip reported as seven hours, however due to the unpredictablity of the weather it was found that the long race which debuted on the class's 21st birthday from the Dee to Beaumaris was almost impossible to hold. Class rules stipulate a minimum of three crew when racing, although the boat can be sailed single-handed at a pinch, and benefits from having four crew in strong winds.

Like all wooden boats, Hilbres need regular maintenance in the winter. This is carried out in the boat sheds at West Kirby Sailing Club. The club also offers class racing at including team and match racing. Hilbres also have their own starts at local Wirral regattas and at the Menai Strait regattas fortnight in Anglesey during the beginning of August.

The Hilbre class association endeavours to keep boats sailing locally and currently owns 3 boats which are all in a good state of repair. These are available for sale or possible lease to sailors who want to sail and race on the Dee. Hipparcus built in 1966 is on display at Merseyside Maritime Museum.

It is a class rule that all boat names should begin with the prefix "Hi" but as the fleet numbers rose to around the 50 mark it became increasingly difficult to find unique suitable words left in the dictionary! This has led to some curious names and spellings and one boat, Heulwen number 50, even managed to slip through the net and have the prefix "He", no one is quite sure why this was allowed by the committee.

Current fleet

See also

West Kirby Sailing Club

Categories:

• Keelboats

Related 'Hilbre One Design' Searches:

See Also:

• Computers: Graphics: Fonts: Individual Designers
• Computers: Graphics: Fonts: Individual Designers: Free
• Feature (Software Design)
• Games: Video Games: Downloads: Free: Developers: Free Lunch Design