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Preview of boats appearing

at Classic Boat Auction on Saturday, 3rd June 2017  Beale Park

We will display some of the boats that will be in the auction on this page. Please check back often as we will profile new boats each week. For the full list of boats at the auction then please go to our bidder registration page and fill in a registration form to order a complimentary catalogue.

7. Gull Mk 1 Dinghy  

This Gull sailing dinghy is number 1 of the design. It is the original boat and first of its kind, it was designed by Ian Proctor in 1956, for his own son to learn to sail. It is a frameless double-chine wooden boat.  The design for this boat was then used as the  original prototype Gull (the "Jolly Roger").  The design then went onto to became the basis for a production boat, the later models were often built from a kit, and produced by Smallcraft of Blockley. A GRP version was produced from 1966. 

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Ian Proctor was a prolific designer of small boats and produced some of the most commercially successful designs, including the Merlin rocket 1952, the Wayfarer in 1958, and the ubiquitous Topper in 1977. 

Ian Proctor not only pioneered new hull designs but also developed the use of trapezes, with which crews remain attached to a boat while leaning out to use their weight to counter-balance the pull of

the sail. His greatest breakthrough was in the replacement of wooden masts with  extruded, aluminium masts using this  technique meant  a mast could be produced with a bend in it that would marry with the shape of new sails with curved rather than straight edges, the bendy mast was born and went on to become a standard feature of modern sailing dinghies..

So this particular boat, harks back to a time before all these new materials came on to the scene in small boat building, and represents a very pure design from a very successful designer. Ian Proctor designed it to be a safe and easy to handle boat for his own children to use.The boat is therefore very easy to sail and can handle a variety of weather conditions that are likely to be encountered both inland and on the sea. For this reason the Gull dinghy design is often used for training purposes. The Gull dinghy can be comfortably sailed when two people are in them although three small persons can be accomodated in most conditions except for heavy weather.​

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