Enterprise are Goa

With numbers hitting 23,000 the Enterprise class is still on top

Any class that is heading for 23,000 issued sail numbers is pretty popular and the Enterprise class looks set to register that number by the start of this season.

This works out at 500 boats a year since 1956 and still going strong.

The class ranked seventh in the madforsailing UK Championship Rankings this year, with 85 entries and with three of the classes above them being junior boats, they come out as the fourth most popular UK adult racing dinghy.

Not bad for a class originally promoted by the News Chronicle (which has long since faded away) ......."to popularise sailing among people who cannot afford an expensive boat". They achieved their aim on the back of publicity from a cross Channel proving cruise by two Enterprises, E1 and E2 - a stunt that would be difficult to organise nowadays.

One of Jack Holts many successful dinghy designs from the 50's, the class was granted International status in 1971, and is now sailed in Canada, China, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Korea, Pakistan, South Africa, Singapore, Thailand, USA and Zimbabwe. It has proved especially popular in India and the Far East and is regularly used in the Asian Games.

The class has always been a close one design, but has incorporated new materials and varied building methods over the years, which has led to some variation between the various construction methods, something that the class is attempting to eliminate.

The two major constructors now in the UK are Speedsails and Rondor and both Paul Young of Rondor and Richard Estaugh of Speedsails felt that the class could improve take-up of the class if a more radical look was taken at the present construction. Other long lived classes such as the Firefly and the Lark have prospered by improved construction methods and the resulting cost reductions.

There are also number of small specialist builders catering to the owner wanting something a bit different. One of these is Tony Threasher who has been building wooden Ents in a female mould since '95. These have a cleaner interior, without hog and floor battens and are quicker to build.

Page two for latest developments in the class.....
Page three fot the Channel crossing....