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The Squib was designed by Oliver Lee in 1967 who initially build about
150 squibs in the following few years. Due to high demand in the early
1970’s Brewer boats then produced a large number of boats under licence
through to 1993 when Oliver died. Barker Brewer Boats then built 12
boats between 1994 and 1996. Production then moved to Parker Sailboats
who continue to build Squibs today and numbers have now reached about
855. The Squib is the largest keelboat class in the UK and has proved to
be a very long lasting and popular design.
The Squib is a nineteen-foot Bermuda-rigged keel-boat carrying a
mainsail, genoa and spinnaker. The Squib is designed primarily for
racing with a crew of 2 however it is quite spacious and will easily
accommodate up to 4 people for crusing. It is of conventional low
maintenance GRP construction with wooden floors and buoyancy tanks.
Squibs normally have alloy masts although some of the early boats still
have an alloy and wood composite mast. The complete Squib has a strictly
controlled minimum weight of 680 kg in sailing condition (including
mast, rudder, anchor, paddle, boom, sails etc. The Squib is a strict
‘one design’ and has been adopted by the RYA as the National Keelboat
and is well suited to club racing. The Squib is big enough to race at
sea and small enough to trail comfortably behind a family car.
Nationals
The National Squib Owners Association (NSOA) holds an annual
championship at a different venue each year. This year (2008) the venue
is RN&SC Lowestoft. In 2009 the championships will be held at Weymouth
SC. The host clubs traditionally organise an extensive racing and social
programme. The Squib class extends to Ireland where there are a number
of Clubs with Squib Classes.
Waldringfield
At Waldringfield the fleet currently have eighteen boats registered with
the National Squib Owners’ Association, which is around the national
average. The fleet sails on Saturday afternoons and Wednesday evenings
and has its own class trophies for each race series. The class sails one
race on a Saturday as opposed to the club’s dinghies, which have two
races. Squibs have their own start at the end of the Dinghy sequence
invariably with a committee boat start providing adequate room for the
larger boats.
The WSC open meetings at Easter, WSC
Regatta Weekend and the Cartoon Weekend normally attract a number of
visitors from Felixstowe Ferry Sailing Club and Aldeburgh Yacht Club.
Each year several members of the WSC fleet travel to the national and
regional events. Our boats also compete in Aldeburgh Week, and when
weather conditions permit the more adventurous helms sail round via
Shingle Street.
Waldringfield Boatyard offers a lifting in and out service including
removal and installation of mast and securing the boat on the assigned
mooring. Melton Boatyard also offers a similar service at lower cost but
require the owner to attend to take boat downriver from Melton to their
WSC mooring.
The Waldringfield Squib Class has trot
moorings downriver from the clubhouse and offer members of the class a
managed mooring on an annual basis. The current charge is £93 for a
mooring plus £7 annual class membership. There are also boatyard
moorings available but these tend to be more expensive and may be
subject to a waiting list.
The WSC Squibbers are a friendly group
who enjoy their sailing and welcome new owners to the class.
The National Squib Class website is at
www.squibs.co.uk and offers a large
amount of further information.
If you would like to know more about the
Waldringfield Squib Class please feel free contact either the Class
Captain, Patrick Wilton (patrick.wilton(at)btinternet.com) or the
Class Secretary Barry Searle. (barry.searle(at)btinternet.com) |
