Welcome to the International 12 Foot Dinghy Class Association

Welcome to the website of 'The International 12 foot Dinghy Class Association'

When Southport solicitor and amateur boat designer George Cockshott, entered a design competition in 1913, little could he have envisaged that the boat that he drew would still be sailing 100 years later. Cockshott's 12 Foot Dinghy went on to become the first small boat to gain international status and was selected for the 1920 and 1928 Olympic Games. Although outclassed by modern boats, its endearing character ensures that it is still sailed and raced enthusiastically by near-fanatical owners around the world.
No fewer than 171 Dinghies assembled in the Netherlands during June 2014 to celebrate the 100^th anniversary of the arrival of the 12' Dinghy in that country! Since then the Class has continued to prosper in the Netherlands, Italy and Japan, and fleets are growing in various other countries including France, Switzerland and Austria.

Picture of the month - August 2020

*Christoph Senn's Sterna* - built by Abeking & Rasmussen of Germany in 1923.** Seen here sailing on the Thunersersee, SUI 21 Sterna is normally based on the Zurichsee.
Photo:	© Marianne & Bruno Perren

Argo at the Lake Como International Vintage Boat Museum

ITA1000 - Argo, - now on display at the Museo Barca Lariana

Built: 1957 by Primo Valli, Lezzeno
This boat belonged to Francesco Bariffi,
General Secretary of the Associazione Italiana Classe Dinghy

"It is well worth continuing, even if only for a very few.
Even if it were for just one person.

Even if I were the only one in the world who was interested
in traditional boats and even if there were a total lack of
interest among people today,
I would still go on,

because nautical history deserves any amount of effort
in order to keep it alive.

And I, like my fellow boat lovers,
want to continue to be that link
between past and future"

G.A. Zanoletti
The Founder of Museo Barca Lariana

This website is the home of all 12' Dinghy sailors.
No matter when, or where, your boat was built, whether it is wood or plastic,
modern or traditional, you are welcome here!

Recently I was looking at this photo of one of the competitors at the 1928 Olympics. I was struck by the lack of a kicking-strap, tiller extension, buoyancy bags - all things that we take for granted.

Following the loss of our 'international status' in 1964, the pace of change quickened, and, probably inevitably, there was divergence between Italian-style and Dutch-style boats. But as Jaap Wientjes, President of the Dutch Twaalvoetsjollenclub so elegantly states, 'Clearly this may separate us, but there is a lot more that unites us'.

To summarise, it does not matter whether you call your boat an International 12-foot Dinghy, a Dreadnought, a Dickie, a Dinghy 12 piedi, a Dinghy douze pieds, a B.R.A. 12ft. Dinghy, an 'A' Class Dinghy, a Dinghy 12' Classico, a Dinghy 12, or anything else; - this web site is for you.



An autumn sail on the Thunersee
Photographer:	Thomas Jakob

Bosham Classic Boat Revival


Read a report about the 2019 Bosham Classic Boat Revival on the news page of this site

Dinghy racing on a lake close to Haarlem (NL) during the 1950s

Vintage Yachting Games 2018

The third Vintage Yachting Games for discontinued Olympic and Paralympic Classes was sailed during September 2018 on Øresund, Copenhagen in Denmark. The event was organised by the Kongelig Dansk Yachtklub and the Hellerup Sejlklub. The Vintage Yachting Games Organization (VYGO) was the governing organization.
photographer:	© Per Heegaard Fotografi

info@12footdinghy.org