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A brief introduction to the
WSC Squib Keelboat Class
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 1970s,
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 before production moved to Parker Sailboats. Numbers have now
reached about 880. 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 cruising. 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 and Open Meetings
The National Squib Owners Association (NSOA) which represents Squib
throughout the UK and Ireland, holds an annual championship at a different
venue each year. Last years Champs at Weymouth attracted 105 entries! In
2010 the championships will be held at Royal St George Yacht Club in Dun
Laoghaire, Ireland
www.rsgyc.ie/squibs2010 at the end of June;
2011 will see the Squibs at Plymouth. The host club traditionally organises
an extensive racing and social programme.
Additionally there are Area
Championships and of interest to the Waldringfield Squibs are the East Coast
Champs being hosted by our neighbours at Felixstowe Ferry Sailing Club on
29-31 May 2010 and we’ll be supporting them with several entries.
Waldringfield
At Waldringfield the fleet currently have eighteen boats registered with the
National Squib Owners’ Association. 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. 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.
2010 is the 40th
anniversary of the formation of the Waldringfield Squib fleet. We will
celebrate Squib Day on Sunday 13th June with a barbeque and some
sailing and hope to welcome former Waldringfield Squibbers and friends from
local Squib fleets to join us.
Waldringfield Boatyard offers a lifting in and out service including removal
and installation of mast and securing the boat on the assigned mooring. Larkmans
Boatyard at Melton also offers a excellent service at a lower cost but this
requires the owner to sail downriver to the WSC moorings.
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 £145 for
a mooring plus £8 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 socialising. We look forward to
welcoming new owners to the class. The National Squib Class website is at
www.squibs.co.uk and
offers a large amount of further information including news of second-hand
Squibs and equipment for sale. If you would like to know more about the
Waldringfield Squib Class please feel free to contact either the Class
Captain, Jo McArdle
jomcardle(a)hotmail.com or
the Class Secretary Ricky East
travel(a)davideastyachting.com.
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