In the UK

The Waldringfield Sailing Club read about the “Fuss” design and the IDRA 14’s from an article in a sailing magazine. They contacted the designer who made some modifications to the design and so the “Dragonfly” was born. Waldringfield SC is based on the River Deben at Waldringfleld, Suffolk.  Forty-three Dragonflies were built and I have recently heard that a new one is under construction. Dragonflies have graced the Deben River since 1949.

In the 1960’s the fleet became smaller as new classes were introduced in the Club and some boats deteriorated in condition. In recent years the Dragonfly Fleet have been busily acquiring and restoring derelict boats.  As a result the fleet is again expanding as the restorations are completed.  They now have fourteen boats sailing and are actively working on further boats. 

The Dragonflies, apart from allowing metal masts are still very original in layout and fittings. They still have the 25 lbs of lead in their centreboards and have aluminium rudder blades.  They are very much the “Senior Class” in Waldringfield and as such have a priority line of moorings directly in front of the Club. Unlike the IDRA 14’s they have always been kept on moorings.

There was a visit to Ireland by a team from the Waldringfield fleet in 1969 and two visits from a Dublin IDRA 14 team to Waldringfield.  With the political turmoil in Northern Ireland interest in maintaining these visits waned and contact was lost.   Ian Sargent visited Waldringfield in 1995 and contact was re-established.  This resulted in Barry Searle & Mike Head bringing Dragonfly 43 to Dublin for the IDRA 14 Class Golden Jubilee celebrations in 1996 where the fleet were reviewed ashore -36 IDRA 14’s and the Dragonfly - by the designer George O’Brien Kennedy.  George later told us he was delighted to see the Dragonfly as had never seen a completed Dragonfly before - the only one he had ever seen was on his drawing board!  He had left England and gone to work in India by the time the Dragonflies were built.  A group of eleven Dragonfly sailors visited Clontarf in 2006 for the IDRA 14’s Diamond Jubilee. In 2009 a group of six IDRA 14 sailors visited Waldringfield for the Dragonfly 60th anniversary celebrations.

There is great news from the Dragonflies in 2011 – a brand new boat is taking shape in a local boatyard and hopefully very soon the first new Dragonfly for decades will grace the River Deben.

Barry Searle of Waldringfield has provided me with a Dragonfly history and a complete listing of all 43 Dragonflies built.  I am very grateful to him and many others in Waldringfield for their help and enthusiasm with my continued research.  

It is hoped there will be continued fraternal visits between the two surviving “Sister Classes” in the future.   

Further information on the Dragonflies can be obtained from their Class website :

www.dragonflyclass.org.uk  

Christchurch Dragonflies - Dorset

There were also Dragonflies at Christchurch (in Dorset) where they were sailed for three seasons (1949-1951) under the burgee of Christchurch Sailing Club. They were known as "Christchurch Dragonflies".  We have a full listing of the six boats built. The current whereabouts of all these boats is not known. However as late as 1997 one of them (No 6) was in Batheaston, near Bath.  However contact with the owner has been lost. The Waldringfield Class are also currently in contact with another Christchurch Dragonfly owner and this boat is located in Scotland.

Hardway Seabirds

There was also a fleet called “Hardway Seabirds” at the Hardway Sailing Club, near Portsmouth. This Club is based an area that had been reclaimed with the rubble from the buildings bombed in Portsmouth during the first years of the 2nd World War.  A pier was added later and was uses to embark thousands of troops and their armour for the “D Day” landings in Normandy in 1944.  Following the cessation of hostilities the Club was formed and acquired part of the site.  In 1949 they were looking for “a modern Bermuda rigged dinghy” and they read about the success of the IDRA 14 in Ireland.  They contacted the designer and the design was adopted. The Class was called the “Hardway Seabirds”.  According to the Club’s history the Hardway Seabirds, together with another class – the Cat Rigged “Hardway Winds”, formed the backbone of their Club activities for many years until their demise.