Kingfisher

Not the first, but A-Rater Number 1

History

Designed and built in Kingston in 1909 by Alfred Burgoine, one of the two main designers of raters and a towering figure in Thames yachting. Her first owner was W.T. Clarke, then commodore of Thames SC. A very successful boat, and a multiple winner of the prestigious Queen's Cup, she has been consistently fast throughout her career. 

A lengthy and comprehensive rebuild was finally finished in 2001, and she took part in Bourne End 2002, showing flashes of real pace than promise to make her a strong performer. On handicap she was 2nd in the 2002 Queen's Cup, and also scored well in Bourne End 2003. 

Ownership passed to A.J Scott 1915-1919, then to T.L.Turketine Commodore of Thames Sailing Club 1925-1935 who won the Queen’s Cup with her in 1926, 1927, 1929, 1930 and 1932.Originally the hull was painted grey & most likely originally fitted with a Gunter rig sail arrangement. Prior to 1926 she was fitted with a Bermudan or Marconi rig to match all the other competing raters.
Bourne End week in 1927 was noted for high winds & Kingfisher won the Queens Cup from Scamp in a close fought battle.Kingfisher was issued the number 1 when the owner’s individual identifying pennants were replaced with numbers. Kingfisher is not the oldest Thames A Rater so the numbers are not in order of build date. Kingfisher was owned by Thames Commodore T.L.Turketine when numbers were introduced by the Sailing Boat Association and he would appear to have claimed No.1 for his own craft.Kingfisher has competed in many races at Bourne End and Thames SC, winning the prestigious Queen’s cup 8 times, most recently in 1960 sailed by Geoffrey Bentley. She also won the Gold Cup in 1931 and the Connaught Cup 5 times between 1925 to 1930.In the 1960’s she may have been sheathed in fibreglass along with all the other raters, but by 1975 she was out of commission & stored in Kingston.
In 1984 KF was identified for restoration while stored in the roof of a boat shed at Thames SC, but it was another 10-15 years before  the initial work was undertaken, then finished in a shed at Tamesis Sailing Club.  All the ribs were replaced along with a few planks of red cedar on the hull, plus the whole of the deck. She was sheathed in Fibreglass and painted in the teal and white colours she still wears now. Restoration of the hull completed & she was towed up river with a flotilla of Raters from Thames, camping overnight at Windsor, to compete at BEW. Final fitting out was done on the UTSC frontage.
In 2012 a trailer was designed and built to properly support Kingfisher while being transported and this created opportunities to sail Kingfisher other than Bourne End & Kingston.  It signified the end of the “Tow” when she was taken by rib through the 13 locks over 2 days to race in the Yates Cup and Briganza Bowl races at Thames Sailing Club.
Kingfisher has entered the Horning Sailing Club 3 rivers endurance race 3 times since 2012 and has been successful, but not yet won it. There has been a fast race in 10 knot winds, slow race in 2 knot winds with lots of roll tacking and a medium race. During the medium wind 2016 race the carbon mast was unfortunately snapped at the foot during the process of raising the mast after Potterheim Bridge causing early retirement.
In 2017 Kingfisher was taken to Paris to race at the Cercle de la Voile de Paris (CVP) club in the Bol d’Or race on the Seine. Five A Rater’s competed in the handicap races alongside the French Star keel boats and assorted other classes. Immense fun and great memories were created from this trip.