The Years of the DRAGON Neil Trevithick tells the story of one of the most successful one-design keelboats.

In the late 1920's, the Royal Yacht Club of Gothenburg in Norway instituted a competition to design a small racing yacht

which would be cheap to build while providing accommodation for two crew to live aboard during regattas and possibly to provide limited cruising potential.

The winner, in 1928, wasjohan Anker with the Dragon. His boat measured 29'21/2'' (8.9m) LOA, 18'81/.!" (5.7m) LWL, 6'5" (2.0m) beam, 3' 1 0" ( 1. 2m) draft, and the total weight was about 35cwt ( 1778kg). (This weight was not exactly stipulated but scantlings were specifically defined as was the ballast keel at 2205lbs (lOOOkg) ± 1% ).

In 1933 A.H. Ball brought the design drawings back to Britain after cruising in Scandinavia and the first British Dragon, Anita (owned by ].H. Hume) was launched on the Clyde the following year. In 1935, there were six Clyde Dragons racing and by 1938 the number had risen to twenty-five. Soon there were eight more boats in the Solent and five Dragons were sponsored by the Royal Cinque Port Y.C. At the outbreak of the second world war a hundred and twenty Dragons were registered in this country and the price of a new boat was around £300.

just after the war the Dragon came into its own in Britain. Although at that time something of a luxury, those who had indulged in big boat yacht racing before the war found the Dragon to be a worthy and more cost effective successor to the old Six and Eight Metres. In a generous gesture, the Anker family waived all royalties on British built boats and in 1948 it was selected as an Olympic Class.

New weight rules formulated for Olympic status allowed a much lighrer boat by the stripping out of the cabin and all cruising gear and by 1949, the I.Y.R.U. had accepted control of the now International Dragon. The boat was moving with the times. Synthetic sails were approved by the I.Y.R.U. in London; a terylene mainsail and genoa plus spinnaker cost about £150, a new boat around £1800. With both

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International and Olympic status however, the class rules were in need of clarification and on February 29th, 1956, the British Dragon Association was formed.

Although design specification has been fairly tightly controlled over the years, Dragons do vary somewhat with age; cabins have shrunk to a tiny open cuddy while sidedecks have increased in width to prevent water entering the cockpit at extreme angles of heel. With their low freeboard and fine lines, Dragons can be wet boats and pumping is something all crews are familiar with; indeed, during the 1954 Edinburgh Cup a humorous 'Crew's Union' virtually brought proceedings to a standstill when they issued an edict stating that their crews should pump only heated bilgewater!

Vivacious owned by G. C. Wastnage of Burnham.

Forehatches have disappeared altogether. The drift of the runners has varied: originally at the transom, they were moved to a position only slightly aft of the m ain shrouds - which m eant the lee runner only had to be released when sailing free - and subsequently they have moved again to the current position well aft.

Mainsheet control has likewise been subject to alterations from a simple horse with adjustable stops to ·central cockpit pillar or bridgehead track allowing trim alteration without having to adjust sheets. Today's boats have an almost universal sheet track separating the helmsman from his two crew.

Although aesthetically a little cumbersome, this arrangement is essential for superior sail trim and therefore performance. In order to bring adjustment within reach of the helsman some boats are now bringing controls aft from the edge of the foredeck to the centre of the cockpit.

It was not until 1962 that the International Dragon Association was formally inaugurated and in the same year the IYRU agreed to accept submissions for rule changes direct from International Class Associations. As a result the rules were tightened up considerably. This was an important step: class rules are crucial to the survival of any One Design since they will, inevitably, dictate competitiveness in relation to new technology, cost to owners and the general but all important modern appeal of the class to attract new and younger owners.

Dragon rules have evolved slowly and surely, preventing the older boats being built out but opening the way for new materials and ideas. The introduction of m etal spars in 1971 and GRP hulls in 1972 has proven successful. Exact parity between GRP and wood/ composite hulls has been achieved due to work done by one of the Dragon 's great builders, Borge Borresen of Denmark in cof1iunction with Lloyds of London.

Paradoxically perhaps, another factor in the class's survival in these inflationary times, has been the dropping of Olympic Status in 1972. This has kept costs down and encouraged wider competition without the almost full-time effort that goes into the formation of an Olympic Squad and a small high tech elite. The Dragon has noticeably flourished in this country in the last decade.

Naturally there has been- the odd controversy in the Dragon's history. In 1956 Tim Coleman commissioned the Dragon Safar from Pedersen and Thuesen of Denmark. At that time the rules permitted variation in the shape of the stem on the waterline and by exploiting this, Safar and a small number of others, achieved a 5% increase in speed over their rivals. The loophole was closed in 1962.

i More recently, the German builder Marcus

Glas has built a number of hulls below the specified minimum weight per square metre. Dispensation was granted to allow them to continue racing until February of this year but now they must carry weighty correctors to compensate for the missing hull lay-up. Glas himself races Dragons successfully, winning the 1986 European Championships at Ostend and over the years, builders have made a habit of racing with distinction. An interesting Edinburgh Cup winner in 1959 was Apo//yon, raced by Bruce Banks and W.C. Lucas who, presumably, got the most out of their sails.

Dragon prices have inevitably kept in line with the times. Boats for sale in the 1987 British Dragon Association Newsletter range from £3,500 for a 1959 Camper and Nicholson with North sails and Sparlight mast, to a 1986 Borresen built under licence in Geelong, Australia for the World Championships for Dr. R. Brown at £12,000. However, these are top of the range boats and older wooden Dragons in need of attention have been snapped up recently for as little as £800 to £1,000.

Today, the ratio of wooden to fibreglass hulls is approximately 2: 1 so that, although the very top winning boats are fibreglass, there are competitive wooden boats racing. Indeed, some would say that the older wooden hulls are stiffer in heavy weather and given the right conditions, can better their fibreglass cousins but that fibreglass boats win because they contain top helmsmen and superior gear (Harken fittings throughout for example) but this is difficult to evaluate.

What is certain is that the wooden Dragons are beautifully built. An early Pedersen and Thuesen boat Maelstrom (1968 DK 439) owned by Simon Day of the T orbay Fleet, is a nice example of a competitive beauty. Mahogany planked on steamed ash frames with oak frames in the way of the mast, mahogany coamings and cuddy and scrubbed teak decks; she has a timeless appeal. Yet there is Harken gear, a Boyce aluminium m ast and sophisticated multi-purchase backstay tensioning with coarse and fine adjustment (42" (1.07m) of rake is the norm).

The plethora of controls give the cockpit a high-tech feel. All lines are led to the forward end of the cockpit and labelled at their cleats: diamonds, spinnaker downhaul, cunningham, pole topping lift, bilge pump, spinnaker halyard, kicker, main halyard, outhaul. The bilge pump deep in the cuddy is operated by a rope and the handle is tensioned with shockcord for the backstroke so that pumping may be carried out from the windward rail. Water exits on to the deck rather than through the hull to minimise drag.

The foresail has roller reefing but only for the purpose of getting rid of the sail altogether when under spinnaker: cleaner and quicker than a man on the foredeck with an armful of sailcloth. Class Rules state that the sail cannot be used partially reefed, hence there are no reefing points on the main.

Recently m any boats have fitted struts or wire bracing from chainplates to the base of the mast to take strain off the hull. Older boats often suffered from delaminated or cracked

THE DRAGON

frames and sprung planking in this area due to hard racing and mast tuning.

Once one starts comparing boat with boat, great diversity becomes apparent. Backstay tensioning may be lever, rope purchase or winch drum. Pedersen and Thuesen sidedecks are some 4" (101.6mm) wider than Borresen decks. Top boats are totally 'Harkenised', their hulls optimised or stripped down to the limit of the rules. On a more local scale, owners may afford the occasional piece of state-of-the-art gear, while elsewhere in the boat sticking with a tried and trusted winch that is 20 years old.

Above: The Borresen-built Dragon DD owned by R. A. Flett of Forth.

In 1987 twenty new boats entered the British Dragon fleet. Looking back through Edinburgh Cup results since it was presented by The Duke of Edinburgh in 1949, winners have been built by C.W. Lallow, Borresen of Denmark, McGruer and Co, Woodnutt and Co Ltd and Camper and Nicholson among others. It is only fair to say that Borresen hulls predominate; no less than thirty seven of their boats being placed. Indeed, since the early 1960's they seem to have had a virtual monopoly.

The most prolific builder in Britain today is Peter Wilson of St. George's Dragons Ltd, Aldeburgh in Suffolk. In the 1970's Peter

began repairing his wooden Dragon and came to the conclusion that he could just as easily build a new one from scratch. The subsequent cold moulded boat becam e a plug and now he can look back on twenty four fibreglass hulls and two cold moulded boats produced by his company stnce 1979. Last year, thirteen boats came out of the mould and over last winter the completion of six boats has kept the yard busy. A fitted out boat, exclusive of sails and VAT, costs approximately £11 ,500. Those who must have a wooden hull will be paying closer to £25,000 for the undoubted privilege.

The fibreglass prices are very competitive when compared with the cost of a Borresen hull and Peter has no doubt that there is a market for new Dragons as the class continues to expand. As he says, in the mid SO's Dragons always seemed to be in the news and every other yachting magazine had a Dragon on the cover. The m essage today seems to be that she is trying for the front cover again.

Qver on the East Coast at Burnham on Crouch, Petticrow Boatyard Ltd are just beginning to build fibreglass Dragons from their own mould. The Petticrow Dragon will be one of the most competitive boats available in this country with hulls optimised to the limit that the rules allow by Ian Howlett C.Eng. MRINA (following the Marcus Glas controversy, optimised boats are to be ultrasound tested to check that the lay up is correct). Paul Ricard Hoh-Yensen, twice Olympic gold medallist, has advised on the design of the deck layout. At the time of writing, Petticrows have two hulls out of their new mould ·(plug and mould built by Tony Smith) and orders for at least ten boats. Petticrows have a wide experience with Dragons and this step into the very top end of the market is an exciting one .

Looking at 1987, the International scene began with the World Championships in Geelong, Australia where highest British placings were a 14th and 19th by Nicky Streeter and a 22nd and 17th by Dr. Bobby Brown. In home waters the East Coast Championship, South Coast Championship and Edinburgh Cup ran through May and june, the latter at Lowestoft under the auspices of the Royal Norfolk and Suffolk Yacht Club, attracting forty entries. Then injuly, forty boats competed in the European Championships off Helsinki, the winner being Marcus Glas in one of his own boats. In August. the jubilee Regatta of the Dragon Gold Cup (perhaps the most prestigious Dragon Trophy of all), at Troon on the Firth of Clyde , gathered a fleet of sixty­three Dragons, of which nineteen were from abroad.

These major m eetings are, of course. in addition to the many club series and trophies which form the calendar of a healthy, competitive and friendly class of boat now enjoying sponsorship at the main events from companies such as Beefeater Gin and j aguar Cars Ltd. The 1980's has been a time of consolidation and expansion for the class· which can approach the 90's and, indeed, the next century with optimism . It would all have m ade johan Anker a happy man and many hundreds of owners world wide have much to thank him for. 0

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