Originally the mode of transport for islanders and lakeside dwellers were the 18ft clinker built open centreboard dinghies on the Shannon lakes. Not all these boats were the same of course and in the late 19th and early 20th century they were used for pleasure such as outings for picnics, social get-togethers and of course racing. The One-Design came about in 1920 with a meeting between the Lough Ree, Lough Derg and North Shanon Yacht Clubs. It was agreed that an independent professional yacht designer would be commissioned to design an 18ft LOA dinghy with 4’ 9” to 4’ 11” beam. Centreboard to be 4’ 0” when lowered and sail area not to exceed 140 sq ft. As a result in Decemer 1920 FC Morgan Giles was requested to produce a design which would become the Shannon One-Design.
The first boat was ordered from Walter Levinge of Athlone for Otway Graham Toler, delivered in 1921 she was named PHYLLIS and given sail number 43.
A number of design modifications were made by the builder:
Morgan Giles rotary keel hoist was not readily manufactured in Ireland.
Mainsheet horse in brass was considered to add too much cost.
As cast Iron was not readily available, steel plate was used for the centreboard at half of the designed weight.
The copper buoyancy tanks were omitted because buoyancy was not used in the traditional lake boats.
As many of the previous 18ft boats used a gunter rig the lug rig was abandoned.
All of these changes produced a boat that performed more like a dinghy rather than the keelboat proposed by Morgan Giles. After seeing the boat perform all the clubs accepted design 201 as modified by the builder. Boat No. 32 was built in 1922.
Today sail numbers have reached No. 178 and boats are built almost exclusively in the Athlone area.
Specification of the Shannon One-Design:
LOA – 18ft
LWL – 17ft
Beam – 4ft 9½in
Draft (Hull) – 7¾in
Draft with centreboard lowered – 4ft 0in
Keel – Oak or Elm
Stem/Sternpost/Thwart knees/Quarter knees/Breasthook – Grown Oak crooks
Transom – Mahogany 7/8in finished thickness
Planking – 11 planks each side of Silver Spruce or Wytch Elm 5/16in
Topstrake – Mahogany or Teak
Timbers – Oak, Ash or Canadian Rock Elm ½ in x ¾ in at 6in centres.
Thanks to Vincent Delany for the above information
