Snapdragon

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Michael p

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Hi all and thanks for reading my post, I have recently purchased what I was told was a 19ft snapdragon being 20ft including the transom mounted rudder, but i can't find any information on this vessel, can anyone help me identify her?
 
earlybird said:
A 20 ft (approx.) Snappy was built around 1970, but it was metric and they called it the 600.
My first yacht was the 23 centreboarder, first design of the marque
https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/snapdragon-600
Click to expand...

Wasn't the 600 ... 700 ... etc naming later ? If I recall Thames Marine used the Ft when they were first built ?? And I thought the 600 was the replacement for the older 21 - which my Father had many years ago.
 
Going by SailboatData.com the 21 and 600 were both produced from 1970. Seems strange that TM mixed their units of measurement.
The 600 is shorter and beamier than the 21 and seems to match the op's quoted length better.
 
earlybird said:
Going by SailboatData.com the 21 and 600 were both produced from 1970. Seems strange that TM mixed their units of measurement.
The 600 is shorter and beamier than the 21 and seems to match the op's quoted length better.
Click to expand...

Actually wasn't meaning about OP's ... just the mention of 600 etc. triggered a memory.

As a young kid - I hated when Dad said to raise or lower the CB .. it was a handle in the rear upright of the table .. bloody stiff and lot of turns for a small young lad !!

As to the year ... I was born in 1956 and was 12 yrs old when I last sailed on Dad's 21. We had that boat at least 1 year by then. That puts it at 1967 ... and it was 2nd hand when he bought it on East Coast ...

Always remember it as a 'wet boat' ... she would ship seas over the bow as soon as any waves ..

Its not in my Bristows of 1968 though .. but the 23 and 26 are.
 
Last edited:
Been digging into old family stuff and found some info from when my Father bought the 21 ...

The sail number was SD9 ... and seller remarked that it was one of a short run of the first 21's. I seem to remember he claimed 10 were built as per ours. The next had the hull altered and that was the standard 21 till its demise.
According to info from the Assoc - the 21 was built from early summer '68 with the 600 coming a few months later.

If as we were told - ours was an early version - that may account for the date etc.

When I queried the Assoc many years later when I had my 23 , about my Fathers 21 - they said they had no knowledge of such .... strange as they reckon to have all the data and even ex yard guys as Association was started by Thames Marine.

As I mentioned earlier - ours was a 'wet boat' as the bow had very little rise to it. Get her going and she could stick her head into waves instead of rising over. But she was quick - we used to enter her for Round The Island (IoW ) but that was years ago when even Silhouettes had a class in the RTI.
I also recall that when we compared SD9 to other 21's we met .. they had more rise of bow but rest of boat was same.

I have a soft spot for the Snappies .. particularly the 'pocket cruisers' ... up to and including 24 ... but for some reason was not so enamoured of the larger ones. Maybe because by then Centaurs and such were appearing ?
 
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