Sailing Magazine
By Richard Crockett
“A whole generation of South African yachtsmen can thank the Sharpie for their greatest sailing thrills” said the sub-head to this 1959 feature from SA Yachting magazine.
The author was Herbert McWilliams who went on to say this: “My first introduction to a Sharpie took place at Durban in 1932 (when I was taken (by I forgot whom) to a shed where a couple o f partly-finished hulls were hanging from the rafters. They had, I was told, been built by a member of PYC, Mr. E. Petch, and were intended to be the answer to the ever-prevailing demand for an economical, easy to build, but fast sailing boat suitable for Durban Bay in particular and South African waters in general.
“At that time I was crewing in the Goodricke series and, although an enthusiastic Scow owner myself, had jumped at the chance to go to Durban to take part in what, then, was the premier yachting event in this country.
“The fact that the ZYC dinghy-sadly old-fashioned and clumsy compared with the advanced design of our competitors – came practically stone last did not worry me at all: I recall that the spirit of that Regatta was typical of so many I have enjoyed since, and I came away with happy memories, and the beginning of a long friendship with George Goodricke himself, together with a rather sketchy plan of the Sharpie.
This is another very interesting read from my archives, with a host of photos too.
READ IT ALL HERE: 1959 01-02 – SA Yachting – sharpie – OCR
