Reb class
The Class in South Africa
In Durban, South Africa, an article on the “Fuss” design in an English sailing magazine was noticed with interest by Rupert Ellis Browne. Rupert, a very successful business man in the coffee industry was also Lord Mayor of Durban and Commodore of the Royal Natal Yacht Club. The result of this was an order for 14 boats in 1946. The boats were built by the Lymington Slipway & Engineering Co. in Hampshire England - where the designer George O'Brien Kennedy was based at the time. The boats were shipped out to Durban where the Class was called "REB’s". (REB was the initials of Rupert Ellis Brown). Apart from the 14 boats imported into South Africa two other boats were built locally in the Fred Nicholl's boatyard at the Bluff, Durban. Interestingly there is evidence of a REB sail no 18 (see later) which might suggest there were as many as 18 actually built.
The boats sailed under the burgees of the RNYC (Royal Natal Yacht Club) & PYC (Point Yacht Club) in Durban – raced twice a week between the two Clubs. Many household names in South African sailing raced in the REB’s at that time – including South African Olympic sailors Rupert Ellis Brown and John Sully. The Class in South Africa were ahead of their counterparts in Ireland as they had spinnakers and trapezes in 1953 – Trapezes were only introduced in Ireland in 1960 and spinnakers reintroduced in 1974. Interestingly they did not have buoyancy bags – when I enquired why I was told “the waters in Durban are warm and very shallow in parts so retrieving a capsized boat was not difficult”. The Class was strong in Durban for many years up to the 1960’s - when other Classes quickly superseded them. One of the problems with the REB’s was the clinker construction of the boats, which was not the most suitable construction type for Durban with its hot and sometimes moist climate. This resulted in the boats being rather “leaky” as the planks dried out too much in the heat. Many of the boats were donated in the early 1960’s to the University of Natal and they were both sailed and enjoyed by the students for many years afterwards.
One of the boats (REB No.18 – named “Sandpiper”) was sailed for many years from 1948 on the Vaal River at Lough Vaal, Gauteng (formerly Transvaal Province) at the 'Loch Vaal Club'. Kevin Fenix of Malahide (Dublin) – who crewed in that boat as a youngster provided this information. The last known “sighting” of a REB was in a museum at Midmar Dam in Natal in 1990. Sadly the museum has closed since then and no further information is available on the boat.
We now have a many photos and information on the REB’s thanks to the help of Noel Bedford. Sadly Noel Bedford passed away in Nov 2012 and we lost the only person who had raced both IDRA 14’s in Ireland (Clontarf) and REBs in Durban. Noel had emigrated to Durban in 1952. Noel was a mine of knowledge about the Class and I really appreciate the help he gave me over the years. I have wonderful memories of the times I spent with him during my numerous visits to Durban. I would also like to acknowledge the help of the late Joe Harris (Former Life President of the Point Yacht Club) whom I had the pleasure of meeting on a few occasions before his death. Joe provided me with a lot of information on the REB’s. I had also met another former REB sailor – the late John Sully (who had gone on to represent South Africa in the Olympics) when he visited Dublin in 1995. I would also like to thank the many former REB sailors I met both in Durban and Cape Town – especially those who attended a wonderful lunch hosted by Noel Bedford in Durban in 2005. I visited the Point Yacht Club again in 2009, 2010 and again in 2011. On this visit I gave an illustrated talk on the history of the Class and presented a half model of a REB to the Commodore of the Point Yacht Club. This took place at a lunch in PYC hosted by the Commodore - at which there were some former REB sailors and also the granddaughter of Rupert Ellis Brown. PYC now display the half model in their trophy cupboard in their Club hallway.
