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 - January 2022

Invernale Torre del Lago 2021-2022 *Coppa del Nonno* November 6^th 2021

Document of the month - January 2022

With thanks to Aidan Henry of Sutton Dinghy Club, Ireland.	(originally published on this site in January 2010)

Dinghy 12' Classico Lorient

Dinghy 12 Classique
CNL Atlantique Le Télégramme
16 17 18 Septembre 2022
Lorient La Base

Christophe Le Bruchec writes:'En vous espérant très nombreux pour ce premier Classico,sur l’Atlantique , que je souhaite faire perdurer dans le temps pour que cet évènement soit l’occasion de réunir enfin les flottes de Dinghy12 d’Europe.

À deux ans des JO 2024 faisons de cette date un évènement marquant et tourné vers l’avenir pour que nos flottes de D12 soient plus importantes et respectueuses du choix de chacun.

Échangeons Réunissons nous et Construisons l’avenir.'

Contact christophe.le-bruchec@orange.fr for more details.

This is Mariette, a classic two-masted gaff schooner
designed and built by Nathanael Greene Herreshoff in 1915.
Originally owned by Harold S. Vanderbilt, she now sails out of Antibes, France, under the French flag.

Her Skipper, Charlie Wroe, tells us: "We have an Int. 12 dinghy as a tender. She is called Wizard, named after the nickname of the designer and builder of Mariette. It's a great little boat - we use it for sailing, rowing and as a good sized deck locker.

2020 Vision - 100 years of the International 12-foot Dinghy in the United Kingdom

A new book has been published exactly 100 years after K1 Tern became the UK's first International 12-foot Dinghy to receive a class certificate.

Part one describes the origins and history of the International 12-foot Dinghy, and documents the rise, the fall, and the hesitant rebirth of the Class in the United Kingdom.

Part two sets out to provide a snapshot of the Dinghy Class in the U.K. by highlighting twelve personalities, twelve boats and twelve sailing clubs that have each played a role in the ongoing story.

215 pages with many illustrations

Available from amazon.co.uk and other amazon market places (avoid amazon.nl where it is over-priced!)

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

info@12footdinghy.org