A Photographic Tribute to the A Class

The A Class was devised in the early 1920's and rose to prominence in the decades of the 20's and 30's. The rating rules, while complex, led to lovely boats with "yacht-like" lines and enough mass to sail realistically in almost all kinds of weather.

The pictures below were kindly furnished by Charley Williamson who shares the duty of Historian with me. Charley managed to track down the original negatives that captured the action of the 1939 Yachting Monthly Cup in Fleetwod, England. These high-resolution prints come from the original negatives of Bob Edge, and were generously made available by the younger Bob Edge. The two photographs of Bill Bithell's yacht Ranger III were taken by Dr. Hari Kytomaa.

If you click on the pictures you'll get a larger, higher resolution image. These are JPEGs of 40K or so.

Jimmy and Billy Alexander's "White Heather" at Fleetwood, England in 1939. The Alexander brothers were international competitors as well as producers of very high quality commercial "miniature model yachts."

Jimmy Alexander prepares to retrieve his boat, Fleetwood, 1939.

Sam Berge of Norway (center), Fleetwood, 1939.

The French challenger, Horace Boussy, at Fleetwood, 1939.

The mast fittings of Ranger III. Bill used to make fittings for sale -- if you find a vintage boat with first-class chromed fittings marked "W.G.B.," then you have some of Bill's.

The vane on Ranger III.