The Dubin Bay Mermaid Class
In this age of
production-line boats it is
comforting to note that the traditional wooden sailing boat still remains
popular among DBSC sailors. With the Twenty Ones in eclipse - a temporary
phenomenon, no doubt - and the venerable Water Wags racing now under their own
burgee in Dun Laoghaire Harbour, DBSC's oldest wooden boat class has to be the
Dublin Bay Mermaid.
Not the Victorian Mermaid, whose racy if uncertain sailing
qualities delighted and appalled the Club's early members, but the John Kearney
version, first mentioned in the minutes of the the Club's AGM, held in the Dun
Laoghaire Town Hall of the 10th April 1933. The official record is as follows:
Mr. J.B. Kearney submitted plans which he had prepared at the request of the
Committee for a 17 foot half-decked centreboard boat and he gave details of her
construction and probable cost. The Commodore explained the various reasons that
had caused the Committee to consider the question of providing a new class.
The
following resolution was proposed by the Hon. Secretary and seconded by Dr
Stephens: That the plans prepared by Mr.J.B. Kearney and submitted to the
meeting be adopted as a class in the Club for a period of three years from the
first of May 1933 and that in the event of three or more boats of the new class
being in commission during the coming season the Committee shall have power to
provide races and prizes. An exhaustive discussion followed in which the
Commodore, the Hon. Treasurer, the Hon. Secretary, Capt.Twohig, Mr.L.McMullen
and Mr.Croxon took part. Dr.Haughton advocated the building of a sample boat.
Mr. Snow objected to the design as being detrimental to the Wag class. On being
put to the meeting, the motion was passed nem.con. On the motion of the Hon.
Treasurer, seconded by the Commodore, the best thanks of the Club was voted to
Mr. Kearney for his invaluable assistance so freely given.
The reasons behind
the proposal were not recorded in the minutes but a newspaper report of the
meeting (Irish Times) showed the particular need the new boat was expected to
fill..... For years the need of a new racing class in the Bay has been debated,
its chief advantage being the stimulus it could provide. What was needed, it was
felt, was a boat of moderate cost, larger than the Water Wag and smaller than a
17 Footer, but the idea hung fire until lately, when Mr. J.B. Kearney submitted
plans to the Committee of the Dublin Bay Sailing Club, the Committee in turn
bringing the matter before the members at the annual general meeting on Monday
evening with a recommendation for its acceptance. The interest taken in a
suggested new class was shown by the attendance. It was the largest for years,
and incidentally, included nearly a dozen lady members, this being the first
time they took an active part in club affairs. ...What will the future of this
projected new Dublin Bay class cannot be foreseen. The design is attractive and
the boats will be of half-decked, centre-board type, carrying 150 sq, ft. of
canvas in Bermudian rig. It is expected that the cost will be £47-10/- to £55,
the price being dependent, of course, on the number ordered at the one time....
To the current generation of yachtsmen Kearney is remembered - if he is
remembered at all - solely for his design of the latter-day Mermaid, which is a
pity because Kearney had much more than that to his credit. Over a period of
something like seventy years, from 1897 until his death in 1967, he was
constantly involved in the design and construction of boats. Fingal,
Shielmartin, Mac Lir, Sonia - all Kearney-designed craft - were famous in their
day, not to mention the Mavis , which used to be one of the stalwarts of the old
Dublin Bay cruiser class. Ainmara is still remembered in in Dun Laoghaire -
Kearney's first venture, which he designed in 1910 and built in eighteen months
by himself, working without power and often by the light of oil lamps.
The son
of a well-known Ringsend boat-builder, his own boat-building skills gained him
early recognition. The Yachtsman in January 1901 carried a description of
Satanella , a fifteen foot canoe yacht which he had built for a Mr P.T. Walsh.
Walsh wrote: ` Satanella was very well put together by J. Kearney, junior, a
clever young shipwright who inherits his: father's talent'. Kearney did not
remain in the family business. In 1900 he joined the Dublin Port and Docks Board
as a' shipwright where he remained until he retired with the rank of
Superintendent of the Engineers' Department. In the Port and Docks he is
remembered for some ingenious and indeed remarkable solutions to problems of
wharf construction.
The genesis and parturution of the Mermaid was somewhat
prolonged. Despite the initial enthusiasm, boats in the required number were
slow to appear - not, unsurprisingly, in the economically-depressed nineteen
thirties. The 1934 and 1935 programmes invited entries from the new class but
only one, Mermaid, (Lt.Col.P.J.Dwyer) appeared - and that among unclassified
boats towards the end of the 1935 season. In September 1936 there was no account
of mention of having raced in the season just ended, her place having been taken
by another new Mermaid. This was Delphis , owned by the Hon. C.Brabazon. Given a
report that four boats were being built and an assurance from Lord Glenavy that
he intended to build another, the original three year limit was extended.
The
1937 records show definite signs of the new class emerging. John Good, TD, one
of the owners attended the AGM on the 22nd. March 1937 with proposals for
courses for the new class but,embarassingly, none of the others attended, and
the matter had to be deferred. It was again raised at the committee meeting held
on the 6th. April: Mr. John Good, TD, attended the meeting by invitation and the
question of providing races for the new 17 foot boats was considered. After full
discussion of the claims of these and other small craft for unclassified boats ,
the Committee ruled that races be included in the programme for unclassified
boats in order to provide races for boats not eligible for the revived No. 1
Class.
Four of the new class, indeed, appear in the 1937 programme as
Unclassified Boats: (P.J.Dwyer), Delphis, (Hon. C.Brabazon), Iolar
(R.H.O'Hanlon)and Oonagh ( John Good). Three of them raced actively that year (
Amy, Delphis , and Iolar ), and in the subsequent prizegiving, Iolar was
declared the overall winner, with 5 firsts, 3 seconds, and 2 thirds. Oonagh does
not appear to have raced .
However, the DBSC Committee were at last convinced
that the class had arrived to stay, and at the Club's annual general meeting at
the National YC on the of the 15th. March 1938 the following amendment to the
rules were agreed: There shall be a Class IIIa, which shall be known by the name
of the Mermaid Class, to be one-design17 foot centre-board, half-deck, Bermuda
sloops, built, rigged and equipped in accordance with the specification and
plans deposited with the Hon. Secretary. Entrance fees and Stranger's fees for
this class to be the same as Class III.
The Committee's confidence was not
misplaced. Eight Mermaid's raced that year, Iolar again winning overall, but
having stiff competition from Daphne , sailed by K.D.M. Daniel and Stella ,
sailed by Lord Glenavy. Evidence of the increasing spirit of competition in the
class is the report of the first protest hearing involving Mermaids, held on the
31st May 1938,. The protest was between and Iolar , which did not defend the
protest and was formally disqualified. That year, too, 's owner, J.R. Clark,
emerged as the Mermaid's first Class Captain, and - further evidence of a
consolidating class structure - Stella' s and Iolar's owners presented perpetual
cups to DBSC for Mermaid races. These trophies continue to grace the annual
prizegiving at the end of every season, as will, no doubt, the Mermaid class
itself in Dublin Bay - hopefully, for many, many more years to
come............ |
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