Julia

Current boat name

Julia

Boat class

7116

Sail number

16

Function

Sports and Leisure

Type

Dinghy

Leeward

Centreboard

Propulsion

Sail

Designer

Dick Winfrey

Design date

1950's

Date of build

1950's

Present use

Museum/NMMC

The Helford Delta Class was designed and built by Dick Winfrey who ran a small boatyard on the banks of the Helford River near Helford Point. The Delta dinghy was designed soon after the War as a racing dinghy for use on the Helford River. The dinghy is approx 11 foot 6 inches overall and has a modest beam. She is not unlike a less beamy National 12 of the 1950s. She is clinker built and has varnished topsides and a white enamel bottom. She has fairly pronounced V-section forward and is as a consequence quite tender. The dinghies were beautifully built as Dick Winfrey and his assistant, Ivor Young, were great craftsmen. A total of about 22 dinghies were built. Julia (origionally Moshulu) is Delta No 16. She was bought by her previous owner second hand in the late 1950s from the Campbells for whom she was originally built. Unusually she has hardly been modified at all - she is pretty much the standard boat. Many rivers up and down the coast had their own class of locally designed and built racing dinghies. The Helford River Deltas are perhaps a particularly fine example - not least of all as they are such a pleasing design and are so beautifully made and of course for their association with the immediate locality of the Museum in Falmouth. They had one unusual feature: the Class Rules required Breton Red sails which stood out at a time when most dinghies (except for the larger Redwings) had white sails. The dinghies were raced by teenagers in all the Regattas during Falmouth Week and there were also regular races throughout the Summer. The Club had at least two silver cups for the Class - the Delta Cup and the Nairn Cup.