Half-century celebrations
Fifty years ago, something amazing was happening, all thanks to a new material: glassfibre. Although hobbyists had been messing around in wooden boats for decades, the fact that wooden boats don’t lend themselves to mass production made them expensive, and the skills and/or financial outlay required to maintain them put off many a would-be sailor.
Glassfibre changed all that, and in the late ’50s and early ’60s glassfibre boats began to proliferate, many based on their wooden predecessors. By the late ’60s the number of people on the water had increased dramatically, and glassfibre was the norm for small-boat construction. Even wooden boats became cheaper, as more became available second-hand as owners upgraded to the new material.
It’s a mark of this new enthusiasm for (and affordability of) leisure sailing that a new magazine surfaced to meet the needs of the increased number of boat owners, many of whom were working at the limit of their budget. They did all the work on their boats themselves, and needed a focal point for expertise on small-boat maintenance. The name of the magazine: Practical Boat Owner.
But PBO was by no means the only consequence of this revolution in leisure boating. Clubs, classes and associations began to proliferate to support this new breed of sailor, and as a result many of these are celebrating their half-centuries at around this time. This weekend, I was fortunate enough to attend the dinner held by the Contessa 26 Association to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the class. The centre point of a weekend-long rally, the event fell only two boats short of their target of 50 boats – an impressive achievement, and a stunning sight on Lymington’s Dan Bran pontoon. With boats travelling hundreds of miles from Northumberland, Holland and Belgium to attend, it’s a fitting testament to (in my biased opinion) one of the best sailing boats of her time. She certainly seems to hold a special place in the affections of her builder Jeremy Rogers and his wife Fiona, who recently restored Grayling in time to join her sisters at the rally.
Others are celebrating too. The Westerly Owners’ Association marks its 50th this year and has been organising a range of events, regional and national, to ensure that this leviathan of British boatbuilding receives the recognition it deserves. And in our Regional News pages this month, Weir Quay SC mark their half century.
They aren’t the only ones – our print and online news pages have featured 50th anniversaries too numerous to mention here, and no doubt the next couple of years will see more. Which is why we’re inviting you to get in touch.
PBO launched in January 1967 and quickly grew to become Britain’s biggest boating magazine, a position it holds to this day. We’ll be marking the anniversary in our January 2017 issue with a tribute to all the clubs, classes and associations celebrating with us, so if you have recently had a 50th anniversary event, or are about to have one, please email pbo@timeinc.com with a photo and a few words about what you’re celebrating.
Fair winds,