Montagu Sharpie

[Timcowen]

I have recently 'inherited' a Montagu Sharpie sailing dinghy. She is 16ft with a 4'6 beam. My Uncle Mike Stephens of Hythe Hampshire purchased her for £8 in 1962. At that time she had settled on some posts at the then hythe Sailing Club at Westcliffe Hall Hotel. He restored her making some modifications. At the time of purchase she bore the sail number 24 and the name 'Queen Puff'. As a youngster I and my Uncle spent many years sailing the Solent in her. I have been informed that the Montagu Sharpies were introduced to the Beaulieu River Sailing club on the 1930's by Lord Montagu's mother. (She had apparently sailed one in Gibralter.)Elkins of Christchurch were commisioned to build them at £40 each under licence. They were used on the Beaulieu River and later adopted by the Lymington Yacht club. All the original boats had a name beggining with the letter 'M'.
I am keen to find out if there are any other Montagu Sharpies about, does anyone have any information, photos etc on them or indeed recollect sail number 24 or 'Queen Puff'. What was her original name?
I hope to restore mine this year and have a reunion with the Beaulieu River.

 

[Forbsie]

Welcome to the forum with such an interesting first post.

In case you haven't seen it, try Here for some more information about existing Sharpies. The Class Rules will give you an idea if it's a 12 sq mtr Sharpie. I don't think my one is but I did one up for Discovery Real Time last year.

There is a list of existing Sharpies and a link to the Royal Lymington, so you never know.

It may be worth contacting BSOA@benstudios.co.uk for more information.

Any photos?

 

[Timcowen]

Thanks for reply and interest. I have seen the 12m sharpie site before. They come out at 19ft. Looking at the build plans on that site, I think that possibly the montagu was based on the 12m but built to 16ft.

 

[Forbsie]

The Sharpie design is 19th century American, I think derived from native Indian boats. The 12m version was probably just standardised for racing once the design came across the pond. There are definitely many different sizes and some with 2 masts.