Here's some Aus History from SA...
But now for your Cherub history lesson :
I'll save the history of what I think is my old boat for Sailing Kid, but here's a 70-80's history :
The Bethwaite designed boats dominated through the 70's until Iain Murray came along. One of his first designs was also sailed as a 12, and it was characterised by an extremely wide topsides at the stern. This was eventually tucked in more conventionally, and his designs took over, with many built by McConaghy. "Colour Me Too" was a successful one at the same time as Murray's 18 "Colour 7". Michael Nash designed a few at that time as well, ably sailed by one of his disciples Brian Smith.
At the same time Phil Smith and Vicki Weeks were sailing Nikki Bethwaites old boat "Nix", which was a legend boat, but getting old in the tooth, being a ply boat in the new generation of foam s/wich boats. Importantly they had too little freeboard, but read on...
They built a new foam s/wich boat, still very much modelled on Nix. I was there when it appeared for the first time on Lake Macq. for the NSW state titles (1980?). It had no topcoat, the decks had been sealed with resin only, and had no fittings on it when they turned up late for the first race. From memory there was a delay for the first race, so that gave them a chance to get it fitted out...they won that race, and the Titles I think...when asked about the high topsides on the boat, Phil replied that he was sick of getting a wet arse, so he raised the topsides.
So every current day Cherub sailor has Phil Smith's wet arse to thank for the higher topsides on Cherubs...
They named the boat Wop, after Vicki's dog. They won the next Nationals in Perth.
After this minor revolution, Foreign Affair and New Testament from NZ turned up at the 83 Brisbane Worlds and cleaned up. Foreign Affair was a Wop hull carrying Hood sails from the Sydey loft (unheard of), and sailed with end boom sheeting, lots of twist and very little vang. New Testatment was the more interesting of the boats, and I think it went on to win a Worlds a couple of years later.
The rest is History, with not a lot of change since Phil and Vicki's WOP. About the same time the Pom's split when the World vote to narrow the hulls and increase the sail area failed.
One has to wonder if the Aus Cherub class would have survived better if those changes in '83 had been voted in.
What a great boat they are.
I still have photos of Wop and New Testament - I'll see if I can scan them and upload them
Helmy
I hadn't got the relationship between the (Frank) Bethwaite designs and the modern Aus boats so thoroughly tied in my mind before, although I was aware of the NIx/Wop link.
From what I cn make out the first generation Murrey designs seem to have had a deepish V transom, and I think Flat Stanley was based on this. Later Murrays - the design built in the UK - had very flat transoms If my memory serves me correct. This makes the modern Aus Cherubs rather closer relations of the 29er than you might think looking at them. Its interesting that the changes to the 29er from the 70s Bethwaite design - thinner, lower chines at mid length, are very similar to the evolution the UK Cherubs went through over the same period.
The changes that have appeared over the Wop/FA line are intreresting too, because it seems to me that the basic underwater shape of the boat is narrower and flatter than you'd think, but its kinda extended out - bumped would be misleading - to the mid length measurement point. This is different from a pre Bistro/Fartpants UK boat where the mid length measurement point is more integral to the shape. I'm expressing this badly, I know what I mean but aren't sure how to say it.
cheers, Jim C
