Squib Builders
Boats from number 11 to 157 were built by Oliver Lee in Burnham. From 158 to 724, Squibs were built under licence by Hunter Boats. Numbers 725 to 767 were built by Oliver Lee Racing Yacht. After the death of Oliver Lee, in 1994, the licence moved to Barker Brewer Boats who built 768 to 782. In 1997 the licence was acquired by Bruce Parker Sailboats who, by Spring 2009, had built 100 Squibs, their first being 783. They are currently the only official builder of Squibs.
The moulds have been owned by the National Squib Owners Association since 1994 and a new deck and a new hull mould were commissioned in 2009. Strict control is kept over Squib build to ensure that older boats do not become uncompetitive as has happened in some other classes. However, there were keel mould changes around Squib number 230 and again at 465.
Older Squibs are still prized. In 1996, the National Championship winning boat was a Barker Brewer build (771 Arctic Fox.) In 1999 and 2008, Parker built Squibs won. All the other Championships since 1996 were won by older boats, nine of them by boats built before 1972.
By 2010 over 810 Squibs have been built and the National Squib Owners Association has over 640 members.
Read more about this topic: Squib Sailboat
Famous quotes containing the word builders:
“As we are, so we do; and as we do, so it is done to us; we are the builders of our fortunes.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)