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What you're buying
New boats are still built in Poole, and plenty are built at home. What to look for, what they cost, and where to find one for sale.
Buyer's notes →Designed by Harry Poole · built in Poole
Small boat,
short legs,
big grins
A little wooden dinghy, sailed by children off Parkstone: small enough to take out on your own, big enough to share with a grown-up and a friend. Find out what an AB is, learn the racing rules, then take one round the course yourself.
Fig. 01 — AB fleet, Poole Harbour
01
Three ways in
Learn
The rules, drawn
Port and starboard, windward and leeward, room at the mark. Each rule as a diagram you can play through, in the words a nine-year-old actually uses on the water.
Open the rulebook →Race
Have a go
Six boats, a three-minute countdown and a full lap. Sail the course you would sail on a Friday night, and see whether you can round the mark clean.
Start a race →02
Getting a boat
Boats change hands quietly, usually within the fleet. What is going at the moment is listed, and if nothing there suits, ask.
| Spec | Detail |
|---|---|
| Designer | Harry Poole1 |
| Designed | 19583 |
| Built in | Poole, Dorset5 |
| Builder | H. T. R. Poole, Westbourne — works at Hamworthy Junction, Poole9 |
| Type | Junior training dinghy1 |
| Sailed by | One or two — single or double handed3 |
| Adopted by Parkstone YC | 19893 |
| Price when new | £69, or £79 with Terylene sails8 |
| Length overall | 8 ft 6 in (2.59 m)8 |
| Beam | 4 ft 4 in (1.32 m)8 |
| Draught | 2 ft 4 in board down, 5½ in board up8 |
| Construction | Hard chine, marine ply to BSS 108810 |
| Weight as built | 85 lb (38.6 kg)8 |
| All-up weight | 110 lb (50 kg)9 |
| Minimum weight, Parkstone fleet | 50.8 kg (8 st)5 |
| Rig type | Gaff rig3 |
| Rig type, as tested in 1961 | Sliding gunter10 |
| Mast | Silver spruce, stepped by one person10 |
| Sail area | 32 sq ft; 40 sq ft with the jib10 |
| Sailcloth as sold | Terylene8 |
| Crew | One child of ≈ 20 kg solo, or an adult and two small children5 |
| Typical age | From 4–5 with an adult, up to about 127 |
| Carrying capacity | 35 stone (222 kg)10 |
| Home fleet | Parkstone Yacht Club1 |
Full specifications, and what is still unknown, on the boat detail page.