BERMUDA DINGHIES

From the first days of the Bermuda colony, the small open boat has been one of the main forms of transport around the shores of these islands. It was rowed or sailed, depending on the weather, and served as a fishing boat, floating truck, family transport, and, since the mid-1800s, for racing.

When competitive sailing was first introduced in Bermuda about 1840, it led to the formation of the Royal Yacht Club and the Bermuda Native Yacht Club. In the former, the officers of the Dockyard and the Garrison and the gentlemen of the Island raced Bermuda sloops, while the latter organized regattas in Hamilton Harbour for the coloured fishermen and boatmen with their small open boats.

As the Bermuda sloops were manned by professional crews and required special fitting to ensure success in competition, they were expensive to maintain for pleasure and saw relatively limited use as yachts. On the other hand, the small open boat was ubiquitous, and skill more than money was needed to win races. Not surprisingly therefore, it soon provided the basis of most competitive sailing during the second half of the 19th century.

In the early 1850s, the word "dinghy" was introduced to Bermuda, presumably by an army officer who had served in India, for it is derived from the Indian word "dingi" (small boat). It was soon adopted as the name of the small open boat, 12-feet keel and under, and the Bermuda Dinghy was born. Dinghy racing was always exciting for both participants and spectators. The crew consisted of at least four, and often six, with the steersman and the bailer being the more important members; the others serving as moveable, and at times disposable, ballast, for more than one race was won by the crew diving off the stern one-by-one to push their

Fitted Dinghy Challenger being viewed by
H.M. Queen Elizabeth II on 17February 1975. (BNB)

boat across the finish line. As competition grew, so did the size of the sails. This led in turn to the use of removable decking to reduce the amount of water shipped during a race, a detachable iron fin as a keel, and stays to support the long racing masts. Finally in the 1890s, specially designed dinghies were built, of which the Victory, on display in the Boat Loft, was one of the first. As these were fitted for racing, they have always been known as "fitted dinghies", in contrast to the "unfitted" open boat dinghies, such as the Justina, on display in the Main Exhibition Hall.

In 1883, the Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club was formed to develop dinghy racing further. Within a few years, there were other clubs in St. George’s, Harrington Sound, Southampton and Somerset. Inter-club competition was fierce for 10-15 years, after which interest lagged, and one-by-one the clubs disappeared. Only the RHADC survived to give a lead when dinghy racing was revived at different times in this century. Today, there are four clubs racing a total of five fitted dinghies every second Sunday from late May to September.

Fitted dinghy Victory in the Boat Loft. (L. webb)

Main Exhibition Hall (L. Webb)