Sailing Magazine
By Richard Crockett
Who remembers the Sharpie? I reckon that only a handful of old salts from days of yore will remember them.
Way back in 2004 John Fowler, emigrated from England and settled in Knysna. In England he sailed Sharpies, with the English ones being a bit different from the Sharpies we had here in South Africa. Ours were mostly Bermuda rigged, but the ones in Europe have the original gaff rig. The design is from the late 1800s when they were used as fast fishing boats. Then in the 1920/30s in Holland they became very popular as racing dinghies. The popularity spread to England, Germany and Portugal.
Fowler and his team produced a beautiful boat from African mahogany and oak, planed down to 14mm. The (hollow) mast, boom and gaff are wood, and she is authentic even to the detail of the floorboard fastenings.
I wonder whether she still graces the waters around Knysna?
READ MORE HERE: sharpie – 2004 05 – SAILING Magazine – OCR
