A Guide to Cherub Designs

This is a list of U.K. Cherub designs compiled by various people over the years. It is believed to comprise all designs built in any numbers, and the vast majority of one-offs.

Note - the links to individual designs in this document load a page of graphics showing those designs. These should be helpful in gaining a feel for the shapes of the designs involved, but are definitely not warranted accurate. If you're interested in the principles of modern dinghydesign then the best book by far (even if it is rather uninformative in detail) is Frank Bethwaite's book "High Performance Sailing, ISBN 1 83510 757 3.

Late 80s and Early 90s

Fartpants(Cope)
Designed to be a weight carrier. slightly hollow V bow, low rise of floor, narrow beam, very flat floor with lots of turnup to chines, slight negative rocker aft. The first "narrow flat" Cherub. e.g. 2634

Handley
Radical round bilge design. No foredeck. lowish rocker, very flat floor aft, U bows. 2636

Deeley 6
More moderate development of mk 5

Italian Bistro (Roe Mk 1)
Very influential flat low rocker design. quite fine V bows, moderate beam, low rocker and rise of floor, mainly built in foam sandwich. First boat with flared topsides with a concave "chine". A few boats were professionally built from a female mould taken from Dave Roe's multiple Nationals winner Norwegian Blue, but attempts to organise serious production were unsuccessful. e.g.2637, 2641.

Yet more rule changing saw the introduction of bowsprits and larger spinnakers being permitted. This inevitably meant asymmetric spinnakers. A year or so was spent in intense development until the final rule was defined, which gives a sail of a nominal 140 sq. ft, (actually about 150-160 sq.ft.). This, coupled with the new flat narrow hull shapes and the 1984 rules has led to a boat with quite astonishing medium winds performance offwind.

Dog (Roberts mk 1)
Bistro development with double chines and slight hollow between chines. Very low rocker. The double chine helps to minimise waterline beam within the 1984 rules. e.g. 2645

Paterson 6
Moth influenced design with distinctive high foredeck. Very slab sided and flat floored. At least one later modified as 6a with snout, wider beam and flat foredeck. e.g. 2650, 1997 Uk Nationals winner.

Flying Trifle (Harrison/Lobb/Stimson)
Notable for extreme topside flare aft. Low rocker, flat aft. 2652

Pasta Frenzy (Roe mk 2)
Bistro Development with double chines and lower rocker. At least one later modified with snout and wider beam. e.g. 2660

Platypus (Roberts mk 2)
More moderate development of Dog. 2656.

Barr
Designed by Duncan Barr, I know very little about this boat. 2658

Death by Chocolate (Harrison/Stimson)
Fine bow with straight entry. Plenty of curvature at mid length with quite a lot of rise of floor. Curvature washes out to fairly narrow moderately V'd transom with no panel curvature. Moderate even rocker. 2663

IMA Sports Cherub(Iain Murray & Associates - now Murray, Burns & Dovell).
Single chine, low rocker, U'd sections throughout, maximum rise of floor at mid length and plenty of rise of floor at transom. Not unlike Deeley 5, but finer forward. 1996 Worlds winner. eg 2667

Hardon Clifton 1
Radical design by Simon Clifton with very low rise of floor and low rocker. 2669

1997 Rules

The 1997 Rule changes permitted snouts -bow extensions for jib and bowsprit, wider beam, and considerably reduced the rise of floor restrictions. These modifications were sufficiently compelling that many post 1990 boats were altered with the wider beam etc, including Bistros, Paterson 6a, Pasta Frenzies and at least one Roberts design.

Septic Slug (Roberts mk 3)
First 1987 rules design. Waterplane distribution rather further aft than earlier boats and "wavy" flare. e.g. 2673

Paterson 7
Development of Paterson 6a for the 1997 Rules. Very slab sided and flat floored with a great deal of topside flare carried right round to support the snout. e.g. 2676. One boat built with racks rather than flares. 2681.

Velocipede (Garfitt)
Moderate interpretation of 1987 rules, loosely based on a Pasta Frenzy. 2675

Butt Plug (Sims)
Low rocker, flat sections aft, U sections forward with chine not appearing until well back from the bow. 2682

2682