There Be Dragons

The local Dragon fleet were out in the Solent in the summer, so I couldn't resist sailing over for a closer look at these classic keel boats.

Designed by Johan Anker in 1929 as a small cruiser racer, the Dragon became an Olympic class in 1948 which it maintained until the 1972 Munich Olympics.

The Dragon was first introduced to the UK on the Clyde in Scotland, shortly followed by the Solent where an active fleet has operated from Cowes right up to the present day.

While most people think of the Dragon as a racing class, there was a fascinating book "Gerda's Sea Saga" by Morin Scott, detailing a voyage he made in 1948. Leaving the Solent in his newly acquired wooden Dragon, Morin and friends sailed up the west coat of England to Scotland and then on to Norway and back.

Quite a boat.