Rich Brown’s Goblin 633
Rich Brown’s Goblin 633
In February 2012, I happened to come across a post on the Yachting & Boating World Forum referring to yet another Goblin dinghy. The post was dated September 2009 but I had not found it in any of my previous searches. The post said:
“I've just been given a small pram dinghy called a Goblin, which I've managed to recommission and get back on the water.
Does anyone on the forum know anything about this type? It was built from plans in the late 60's/early 70's and the sail number is 633 which suggests there were quite a few more before it.”
“Its a nice boat albeit a bit small for me and the kids to all get in!”
I sent a reply to the person that posted the message, hoping that his email address was still good. It was. His name is Rich Brown and he emailed me as follows:
Hi Jeff, great to hear from a fellow Goblin owner, there don't seem to be many of us about!
My Goblin (633) was kindly donated to me by a friend, Graham Eastwick, who was moving house in 2009 and didn't have anywhere to store it where they were going. It was built from plans by his father in law, John Pearl of Wickford, Essex, who built it in 1971 (according the the postmark on the envelope containing the plans) and it apparently didn't see much use till he passed it on. My friend used it at the local sailing club on the river here in Chippenham in Wiltshire and occasionally took it away on holiday when his family were
young. He told me the box for the centreboard started leaking after he ran it onto some rocks in the sea off western Scotland ...brave man but not surprising if you know him!
It had sat in Graham’s garage for about 5 years before I got hold of it and took it to the lake nearby. As you may see from the pictures I rigged it wrongly - this is as a result of a) not having a clue, and b) taking advice from a Mirror Dinghy sailor (seen in the background of the photo on the water)! Having admitted that, it sailed beautifully rigged in this manner.
Sadly, for the past year or so it’s been out of the water again and is currently suspended from the ceiling joists in my garage pending some more restoration and new sheets all round.
Best regards,
Rich
It’s interesting that, in the absence of information as to the correct rig, Rich, with the help of the Mirror dinghy sailor, chose a gunter rig. Thus he trod the same path that I did!
Rich also sent me two more photos. On the left is Goblin 633 sail
ing on the lake on a downwind run. On the right is the Goblin loaded on the roof of the car which is the way Rich uses to transport the boat to the lake.
Click on any of the photos to see larger versions.
