Sailing Magazine
By Richard Crockett
Most yachties have heard of the Loch Fyne dinghy and all its virtues. And at just 10-feet it packs a lot of punch.
It was revealed in the May/June issue of SA Yachting Magazine in 1961, and in 1962 an advert for Maitland Sheet Metal Works advertised this dinghy, in fibreglass complete and ready to sail with rowlocks and all fittings (no oars) for the princely sum of R198.00.
This is what the magazine said about her: “With the advent of ultra-lightweight planing dinghies, big and small, it is an undoubted fact that a lot of the fun has gone out of messing about in small boats. Capsizes are now almost a probability in strong winds and sailing has become a strictly communal affair, with a solicitous rescue launch alway in attendance.
“You cannot row, scull, tow or swim off a modern dinghy – much less use it for crayfishing or as a seaworthy utility. Freeboard and transom height are too low for wandering around safely on the seas. Racing often resolves itself into a rapid and somewhat anxious scurry on the water, followed by a haul-out- and then for the tea-tables, the pub and gossip – too much like tennis afternoons for some temperaments.
“That is why we designed the little 10-foot Loch Fyne dinghy – for solitary codgers, young and old, who like pottering about safely on their own.”
Later in the same article, it said this about here ability: “On Easter Saturday she did the 26 or 27 miles from Simonstown past Whittle Rock up toward Cape Hangklip, and then down to Gordon’ Bay, in six hours without the need to bail once. Besides the designer, she carried John Goodwin, a Seagull outboard motor and ten litres of spare fuel, anchor and line and a couple of small bags for warm clothes and vittles.”
READ MORE HERE: 1961 05-06 – SA Yachting – smallest. seaboat – OCR
