We received the following email today from a gentleman called Steve Crook:

I am researching the UK history of the International 12 Foot Dinghy, (also known as the Boat Racing Association ‘A’ Class Dinghy, the BRA 12′ Dinghy and the IYRU 12′ Dinghy).

Designed by an English amateur designer in 1913, the 12′ Dinghy went on to become the first small boat to be granted international status and was sailed in the 1920 and 1928 Olympic Games. Against the odds, it has survived to the present day and there are large fleets in The Netherlands, Italy and Japan, however there are only a handful of survivors in the UK. The class website www.12footdinghy.org will tell you much more…

During the 1920s Ranelagh SC was part of this story and there were a dozen or more Int 12s sailing at your club. Indeed I have found several newspaper reports of inter-club regattas, including the Warwick Smith Trophy Races against Minima YC, in which Int. 12s were sailed. I believe that Ranelagh was one of the last Thames clubs to sail these boats.

Maybe I should introduce myself!
I’m Steve Crook, an Englishman living in Switzerland where I sail ‘Einepyk’, an Int 12′ Dinghy built in 1943. I’m the (slightly reluctant) president of the Swiss Dinghy Association and I maintain the association website.

Remarkably little is known of the history of the Int 12′ Class in the country of its birth – after about 1928 its popularity declined rapidly, although it did cling on in the north west and Wales until the early seventies.

I would be extremely interested in absolutely any information that you may have about the class at your club, be it photos, race results, owners or anything else! I do hope that you will be able to help!
Best wishes
Steve

Please feel free to contact Steve if you have any information (email James for contact details).