Squib Sailboat
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A Squib is a type of small racing
keelboat A keelboat is a riverine cargo-capable working boat, or a small- to mid-sized recreational sailing yacht. The boats in the first category have shallow structural keels, and are nearly flat-bottomed and often used leeboards if forced in open w ...
designed in 1967 by Oliver Lee as a successor to the Ajax 23. It is a strict "
one-design One-design racing is a racing method which may be adopted in sports using complex equipment, whereby all vehicles have identical or very similar designs or models, avoiding the need for a Handicapping, handicap system. Motorsport One-make racing ...
" class of boat, having a length of , beam of , a sail area of 170 sq. ft. (15.8 sq. mts.) upwind, 310 sq. ft. (29 sq. mts.) total and a weight of (including sails and fittings). The usual crew is two people and the boat can be cruised or raced with a Portsmouth Yardstick of 1142. The Squib has been adopted by the RYA as the National Keelboat and is big enough to race at sea and small enough to be trailed easily behind a family car.


Early history

Oliver Lee built the prototype Squib in 1967, using cold moulded wood. Following a succession of trials, the prototype was used as a "
plug Plug, PLUG, plugs, or plugged may refer to: * Plug, an insertive closure or stopper (plug) ** Core plug, used to fill the casting holes on engines ** Butt plug, a sex toy that is inserted into the rectum ** Earplug for ear protection ** Plug (s ...
" from which copies of the boat could be built using
glass-reinforced plastic Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass ( Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass c ...
construction. The first to be built was launched in June 1968, with sail number 11. Much later the plug was turned into a functioning boat and still sails. During 1968, a further five Squibs were built, and the first fleet began racing at the
Royal Corinthian Yacht Club The Royal Corinthian Yacht Club is a watersports organisation based at Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex. History Early history The club was founded at Erith, Kent in 1872 and moved to Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex in 1892. Antecedent clubs later absorbed ...
at
Burnham-on-Crouch Burnham-on-Crouch is a town and civil parish in the Maldon District of Essex, in the East of England; it lies on the north bank of the River Crouch. It is one of Britain's leading places for yachting. The civil parish extends east of the town ...
. Over the following few years numbers grew at Burnham and new fleets were formed at
Waldringfield Waldringfield is a village and civil parish in the East Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England. It is situated on the bank of the River Deben within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, south of the to ...
,
Brixham Brixham is a coastal town and civil parish in the borough of Torbay in the county of Devon, in the south-west of England. As of the 2021 census, Brixham had a population of 16,825. It is one of the main three centres of the borough, along with ...
,
Abersoch Abersoch () is a village in the community of Llanengan in Gwynedd, Wales. It is a popular coastal seaside resort, with around 2,600 residents, on the east-facing south coast of the Llŷn Peninsula at the southern terminus of the A499. It is a ...
and
Aldeburgh Aldeburgh ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk District, East Suffolk district, in the English county, county of Suffolk, England, north of the River Alde. Its estimated population was 2,276 in 2019. It was home to the comp ...
. The Squib was granted national status by the
Royal Yachting Association The Royal Yachting Association (RYA) is a United Kingdom national governing body for sailing, dinghy sailing, yacht and motor cruising, sail racing, RIBs and sportsboats, windsurfing and personal watercraft and a leading representative for i ...
in 1972, when numbers exceeded 300. In 1974, with sail numbers approaching 400, some of Britain's yachting journalists were invited to
Burnham-on-Crouch Burnham-on-Crouch is a town and civil parish in the Maldon District of Essex, in the East of England; it lies on the north bank of the River Crouch. It is one of Britain's leading places for yachting. The civil parish extends east of the town ...
to race Squibs, in an event called the "Squib Symposium". This resulted in raising the Squib's profile with the yachting press. Around this time, the Design Centre (now retitled as the
Design Council The Design Council, formerly the Council of Industrial Design, is a United Kingdom Charitable trust, charity incorporated by royal charter. Its stated mission is "to champion great design that improves lives and makes things better". It was instr ...
) decided to put the Squib on its index of selected designs.


Squib builders

Boats from number 11 to 157 were built by Oliver Lee in Burnham. From 158 to 724, Squibs were built under licence by Hunter Boats. Numbers 725 to 767 were built by Oliver Lee Racing Yacht. After the death of Oliver Lee, in 1994, the licence moved to Barker Brewer Boats who built 768 to 782. In 1997 the licence was acquired by Bruce Parker Sailboats who, by Spring 2009, had built 100 Squibs, their first being 783 and final boat 885. They were the only official builder of Squibs until they went into liquidation. The moulds have been owned by the National Squib Owners Association since 1994 and a new deck and a new hull mould were commissioned in 2009. Strict control is kept over Squib build to ensure that older boats do not become uncompetitive as has happened in some other classes. However, there were keel mould changes in Squib number 230 and again at 465. Older Squibs are still prized. In 1996, the National Championship winning boat was a Barker Brewer build (771 Arctic Fox.) In 1999 and 2008, Parker built Squibs won. All the other Championships since 1996 were won by older boats, nine of them by boats built before 1972. By 2010 over 810 Squibs have been built and the National Squib Owners Association has over 640 members. In June 2014 The National Squib Owners Association (NSOA) announced that Rondar Race Boats have been chosen to be the next builder of the National Squib and it has been decided to number all new Squibs starting at No. 900.


The squib today

By 2010, there are 27 local fleets in the British Isles and Ireland, 10 of which have over 20 boats. In 2008, the 40th Anniversary Regatta, with 45 entries, was held at Burnham-on-Crouch. The Squib is not only raced. Cruising is a major feature of the life of the Squib Fleet at Newhaven and Seaford YC and a version of the Squib cruised from Glasgow to Inverness – and one crossed the Atlantic. The Squib is a favourite boat for people with disabilities and, for example, the East Anglia Sailing Trust, an organisation aimed at providing sailing opportunities for disabled people, uses a fleet of Squibs. In 2009, the
Special Olympics Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, providing year-round training and activities to 5 million participants and Unified Sports partners in 172 countries. Special Ol ...
(for people with learning disabilities) were held in Leicester. The sailing events were at Rutland and the Squib was selected as the competition boat. The class is beginning to have international aspirations. There is a fleet regularly raced in Malaysia. In the early days a couple of Squibs went to
Tortola Tortola () is the largest and most populated island of the British Virgin Islands, a group of islands that form part of the archipelago of the Virgin Islands. It has a surface area of with a total population of 23,908, with 9,400 residents in ...
, in the
British Virgin Islands The British Virgin Islands (BVI), officially the Virgin Islands, are a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean, to the east of Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands, US Virgin Islands and north-west ...
as day charter boats and a fleet grew there but none of the boats now remain in use. Other early Squibs went to
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
,
Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
,
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
and
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
. Six brand new Squibs recently went to Germany and there is talk of the class featuring in Kiel Woche and of racing on the
IJsselmeer The IJsselmeer (; , ), also known as Lake IJssel in English, is a closed-off freshwater lake in the central Netherlands bordering the Provinces of the Netherlands, provinces of Flevoland, North Holland and Friesland. It covers an area of with a ...
in the
Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
.


Racing

The first UK National Championship was held at Burnham, in 1972, with 29 competitors, and the event has been held at a different venue every year since then. The Nationals move around the Britain and Ireland and have been held from
Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...
to
Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...
, as well as in Ireland (four times) and in Wales (eight times). The first 100 boat Nationals fleet was at Howth near Dublin in 1996 and attendance at the Nationals is regularly over 80 boats. In 2009, in Weymouth, 108 Squibs competed in the National Championship. When the UK Nationals are not held in Ireland, a combined northern and Southern Irish Championship is held. In 1995
Rutland Sailing Club Rutland is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Leicestershire to the north and west, Lincolnshire to the north-east, and Northamptonshire to the south-west. Oakham is the largest town and county town. Rutland has a ...
instituted a UK Inland Championship which has proved so popular that it has been held on
Rutland Water Rutland Water is a reservoir in Rutland, England, east of Rutland's county town, Oakham. It is filled by pumping from the River Nene and River Welland, and provides water to the East Midlands. By surface area it is the largest reservoir in E ...
every year since with the entry limited to 55. In Ireland the Inland Championship is always held at Lough Derg Yacht Club in Dromineer. The first such event was held in 2011. There were 29 entries in 2021. Squibs are one of the largest fleets at
Cowes Week Cowes Week ( ) is one of the longest-running regular regattas in the world. With 40 daily sailing races, around 500 boats, and 2500 competitors ranging from Olympic and world-class professionals to weekend sailors, it is the largest sailing ...
. In 2008, there were 40 Squibs racing, appropriately in the Squib's 40th year. Counting regional championships, invitational events and regattas, Squibs compete in 25 open events each year – all over Britain and Ireland and, occasionally, on the Continent. Ranked by attendance at National Championships, the Squib is consistently one of the top ten classes. In 2007, only five other classes had larger numbers than the Squib and four of these were children's boats. Squibs race as a class in Aldeburgh Week, Medway Week, Menai Strait Fortnight, Oulton Week and Tay Week. In Ireland there are Squib fleets on the East coast at
Howth Howth ( ; ; ) is a peninsular village and outer suburb of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The district as a whole occupies the greater part of the peninsula of Howth Head, which forms the northern boundary of Dublin Bay, and includes the ...
and
Dublin Bay Dublin Bay () is a C-shaped inlet of the Irish Sea on the east coast of Ireland. The bay is about 10 kilometres wide along its north–south base, and 7 km in length to its apex at the centre of the city of Dublin; stretching from Howth He ...
. In the North at
Cultra Cultra ( - ) is an affluent residential neighbourhood near Holywood, County Down, Northern Ireland. It is part of Greater Belfast. It is in the Ards and North Down Borough Council area. Cultra is home to the Royal North of Ireland Yacht ...
on
Belfast Lough Belfast Lough () is a large sea inlet on the east coast of Northern Ireland. At its head is the city and port of Belfast, which sits at the mouth of the River Lagan. The lough opens into the North Channel and connects Belfast to the Irish ...
, and at
Killyleagh Killyleagh (; ) is a village and civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the A22 road between Belfast and Downpatrick, on the western side of Strangford Lough. It had a population of 2,787 people in the 2021 Census. It is bes ...
on
Strangford Lough Strangford Lough () is a large sea lough or inlet in County Down, in the east of Northern Ireland. It is the largest inlet in Ireland and the wider British Isles, covering . The lough is almost fully enclosed by the Ards Peninsula and is linke ...
. Squibs on the South coast sail from
Kinsale Kinsale ( ; ) is a historic port and fishing town in County Cork, Ireland. Located approximately south of Cork (city), Cork City on the southeast coast near the Old Head of Kinsale, it sits at the mouth of the River Bandon, and has a populatio ...
and
Glandore Glandore (, meaning ''harbour of the oak trees'') is the name of a village and harbour in County Cork, Ireland. It is off the N71 road, about 10 km east of Skibbereen. The village has several pubs, with traditional music performances. It ...
. There are inland freshwater fleets on Lough Derg in Dromineer at
Lough Derg Yacht Club Lough Derg Yacht Club is a boat club based in the lakeside village of Dromineer in County Tipperary, Ireland. Founded in 1835, it is one of the world's oldest yacht clubs. The club is based in a modern clubhouse on the east shore of Lough De ...
and Mountshannon at Iniscealtra Sailing Club, with a combined fleet of over 30 Squibs.


Related design

The Sandhopper is a shallow draft version of the Squib, also designed by Oliver Lee. Among others, there are regular racing fleets at locations on the East Coast of England.Sandhopper Class Association website
/ref> The
Hunter 19 (Europa) The Hunter 19 (Europa) is a British sailboat that was designed by Oliver Lee (naval architect), Oliver Lee and first built in 1972. The design was originally marketed by the manufacturer as the Hunter 19, but is now usually referred to as the ...
is a development of the Squib, with a cabin added.


References

{{reflist Keelboats Sailboat type designs by Oliver Lee Sailboat types built by Hunter Boats