Melaka
New Member
That's a real labour of love and a great series of photos. I'm sorry to hear about your father's illness and that you won't be able to sail her. That will be such a shame after so much work.
It's quite difficult tracing the history of these relatively small boats. The only sources of which I am aware are
A Century of Sailing on the Thames by Ingrid Holford publised in 1968. Copies may still be availble from Thames SC. There is some inference that keel boats may have been around in the very early days.
Bright Images by Victoria and Andrew Harvey 1984. Copies may be available from Upper Thames SC.
The House on Sport, 1898 edition. There's a chapter on sailing on the Thames by a UTSC member. Copies may be available online.
The Badminton Library two volume set on Yachting published in 1894. There's a good chapter on early sailing on the Thames. Copies may be available online.
Contemporary yachting magazines often went into Thames sailing in some detail. I have recently acquired a few and will keep an eye open.
The general view is that by the early 1900s the skimming dish design dominated the Rater fleet, as it still does. The Sail Boat Association, which ran sailing on the Thames until after WW2, put a size limit on Raters of 1. If the old rule were applied to the modern boats they would work out at .92 Raters. Of course the rule was widely applied to much larger boats. Certainly in the 1890s there were 40 Raters and possibly even larger boats before the metre rule came in. I have seen one drawing of a 160 Rater - enormous! Given the political circumstances of 1904 I fancy the boat would have been built for the UK market and found her way to the continent at some later date.
We'll be delighted to hear how you get on.
Best wishes
David
It's quite difficult tracing the history of these relatively small boats. The only sources of which I am aware are
A Century of Sailing on the Thames by Ingrid Holford publised in 1968. Copies may still be availble from Thames SC. There is some inference that keel boats may have been around in the very early days.
Bright Images by Victoria and Andrew Harvey 1984. Copies may be available from Upper Thames SC.
The House on Sport, 1898 edition. There's a chapter on sailing on the Thames by a UTSC member. Copies may be available online.
The Badminton Library two volume set on Yachting published in 1894. There's a good chapter on early sailing on the Thames. Copies may be available online.
Contemporary yachting magazines often went into Thames sailing in some detail. I have recently acquired a few and will keep an eye open.
The general view is that by the early 1900s the skimming dish design dominated the Rater fleet, as it still does. The Sail Boat Association, which ran sailing on the Thames until after WW2, put a size limit on Raters of 1. If the old rule were applied to the modern boats they would work out at .92 Raters. Of course the rule was widely applied to much larger boats. Certainly in the 1890s there were 40 Raters and possibly even larger boats before the metre rule came in. I have seen one drawing of a 160 Rater - enormous! Given the political circumstances of 1904 I fancy the boat would have been built for the UK market and found her way to the continent at some later date.
We'll be delighted to hear how you get on.
Best wishes
David
