Fowey River Class History

Fowey Gallants
Sailing Club

History | |

A Brief History of the Fowey River Class

Fowey River dinghies are wooden clinker built boats with a hull length of just over 15 feet. They are based on a design by R F Freeman which first appeared in a 1945 issue of Yachting World.

This design was known as a 'Knockabout' - a very robust and versatile boat which was intended to combine ample carrying capacity with simple construction and safety. The mast is 5450mm tall and must be solid wood, Douglas fir or similar. Sail patterns are held by Mitchell sails and conform to dimensions specified by the Fowey River Class Association fifteen to twenty years ago.

Fowey Rivers have a Gunter rig and can be safely used for family sailing, with or without an outboard, for racing or simply for rowing up and around the rivers and creeks, just for the pleasure of it. They are very seaworthy and are now raced regularly in their own class. Sixteen were entered into the Regatta of 2006.

The first boat to be built was Michele, (later renamed Gwalhir), in 1950 by the Hunkin Boat yard. Since then 50 other Fowey Rivers have been built 14 since 1991 and although some have disappeared forever, including Michele, which has been broken up, many are still sailed in Fowey harbour.

Fowey Rivers, many of which are given names of sea birds, are easy to recognise by their brightly coloured sails. They make wonderful family boats and because of their simple and safe design are sturdy in strong winds and seas making them easily adaptable to single-handed sailing.