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John Dory was built in 1939 by Sussex
Yacht Works of Shoreham, to a Robert Clark design, for LH Ryan
and is a sister ship to Serica, Phantom Light and
Corinna. In my search for the perfect boat, I had looked at Phantom Light but was not immediately smitten. I then found John Dory at Mylor Yacht Harbour and immediately knew that this was the right boat. Constructed of Burma teak planking on English oak frames, John Dory has a traditionally laid teak deck and superstructure and still has the original oak joinery in the cabin below. She has a lead ‘rocking keel’ which I believe to be the transition between the traditional long keel and the more modern fin type keels. When I bought John Dory in 1984, her
wooden mast and double headsail rig had already been replaced
with the aluminium masthead rig, which she carries today. Uffa Fox comments in his book ‘Thoughts
on Yachts and Yachting’, that a yacht such as John Dory,
“will be pleasant to sail under any conditions of wind or
sea, make a comfortable cruiser, in which passage making is a
pleasure, and will be able to give good sport in handicap racing
and also do well under the Royal Ocean Racing Club’s rules”. Since joining the BCYC, John Dory regularly participates in the annual Regatta and other Club events and is steadily re-establishing her racing pedigree. It is particularly nice to sail with other Robert Clark designs such as Cereste, which is another BCYC member yacht and is believed to have been built alongside John Dory at SYW I have been very fortunate to obtain some early
possessions from previous owners, which include a beautiful half
model and an RORC winners plaque and cup for the 1939 Plymouth
– La Rochelle Race.
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In 2006, I was extremely pleased to meet the son of the original owner, who joined us for a race in the Regatta and was then able to recount some of the yachts early history. John Dory has always provided a great deal of pleasure to everyone who knows the yacht and has sailed on her and I am sure will continue to do so for many years to come. She is currently based in the Solent and sails under the burgee of the Royal Victoria Yacht Club.
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