Dolly Varden
'Dolly Varden'
The Dolly Varden was built in 1872 by John Samuel Wight of Cowes.
She was designed on Itchen Ferry lines and was used initially as a fishing boat. She was later converted into a racing yacht, by Richard Grant the then secretary of the RYS.
She was rated as a 17ton Cutter.
In 1882 she was sold to Thomas White Ratsey Commodore of the Island Sailing Club (1922-1935) and co-founder of Ratsey & Lapthorne Sailmakers of Cowes.
Her hull was modified to increase sail capacity and enable her to tack better. Following these modifications, the boat won almost every race in which she entered.
Thomas Ratsey also used Dolly Varden as a test rig to try out several new sail designs, including those for the Americas Cup
In 1931 Dolly Varden entered the ISC's first 'Round the Island' race with 25 entries.
She was the first boat to finish at 17:51:21 corrected to 17:31:28
Her actual time on the water was 9hrs-51min-21sec
She finished 14th O/A.
Dolly Varden
2016 - Found in a field.
Dolly Varden
In transit to the
Isle of Wight
Dolly Varden
In storage at the Classic Museum Shed, Newport, IW.
The Dolly Varden Model is in the Club's "Beken Room"
After Thomas died in 1935 his son Chris continued to race Dolly Varden up to the start of the Second World War when it was sold to Claire Lallow. Clare used the boat as a houseboat and after a fire at the boatyard, she was moved to Newtown Creek. Clare finally sold her to Tiny Mitchell's skipper. Steven Sheath who lived aboard her at Falmouth for seven years. Then she was at Yarmouth, converted to a yawl with a Dragon mast, an X boat mizzen and wheel steering. The next record of the boat was in 1965. She was bought by Dennis Riley from Southampton. Following extensive renovation, the boat was moored on the River Hamble. The Elephant Boatyard sold her in 1970 to Colin Pim who lived aboard her on the Medway.
Dolly Varden was sold to John Perkins in 1978. After sailing the boat for a few years, Perkins took it out of the water for restoration in a smallholding. The work wasn't completed, the boat was left in a field, covered by a tarpaulin for the next 25 years. In 2016 the smallholding was sold, and the owner considered setting fire to the hull. Instead, it was taken to the International Boatbuilding Training College at Portsmouth for restoration.
Some of the boat's hull on one side was missing and damaged, but according to a surveyor, the hull was mainly sound and repairable. Following a change of management at IBTC the restoration Dolly Varden was moved to Weymouth.
Unfortunately, the funding required to rebuild her could not be raised and her future looked bleak after a notice was given to move her.
The Classic Boat Museum received a call for help, and bringing her back to Cowes was seen as a key part of the Classic Boat Museum's purpose.
Dolly Varden has been registered with National Historic Ships as a historic vessel of national importance. Its original racing pennant is housed in the Cowes Maritime Museum. The boat is believed to have been named for “Dolly Varden”, a character in Charles Dickens' 1880 novel Barnaby Rudge.
Dolly Varden's original tiller arm is hanging in Ratsey and Lapthorne's offices. It is estimated that the cost of restoring Dolly Varden will be in the order of £300,000 and a fundraising exercise is underway to get the boat sailing again.