Picture Gallery

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Published on Saturday, 28 August 2010 10:31

Written by Administrator

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explore some of our great images from past events, select the strip which shows pics of the event you want to look at and have fun!

UNICORN NATIONALS 2018

UNICORN NATIONALS 2017

UNICORN NATIONALS 2016

UNICORN NATIONALS 2015

{gallery}stories/nationals_2015{/gallery}

UNICORN NATIONALS 2014

UNICORN NATIONALS 2013

STONE WEEK 2012

STONE WEEK 2010

UNICORN NATIONALS 2006

Hall of Fame

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Published on Sunday, 15 August 2010 14:16

Written by keystone

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Unicorn Hall of Fame

ALL TIME CHAMPION with 16 National Wins

With 5 National Championships

• Bob Dorks in 1973, 1989, 1990, 1991 & 2004

With 4 National Championships

• D Jarman 1993, 2000, 2001 & 2002

With 2 national Championships each:

• R J Bond in 1969 & 1970

• G Hutchings in 1971 & 1975

• S P Bulgen in 1986 & 1992

• W Dawson in 1994 & 1995

With 1 National Championship

• Owen Cox in 2016

• S Pooley in 2015

• P Toft in 2009

• P Jarman in 1979

National Champions by Year

2018 Gary Piper 

2017 Gary Piper

2016 Owen Cox

2015 Steve Pooley

2014 Gary Piper

2013 Gary Piper

2012 Gary Piper

2011 Gary Piper

2010 Gary Piper

2009 Peter Toft

2005-8 Gary Piper

2004 Bob Dorks

2003 Gary Piper

2000-2 Dan Jarman

1996-9 Gary Piper

1994-5 William Dawson

1993 Dan Jarman

1992 Steve Bulgen

1989-91 Bob Dorks

1987-8 John Wright

1986 Steve Bulgen

1980-5 John Wright

1979 Phil Jarman

1976-8 John Wright

1975 G Hutchings

1974 John Wright

1973 Bob Dorks

1972 John Wright

1971 G Hutchings

1969-70 R Bond

Links to Websites

Category: Uncategorised

Published on Saturday, 28 August 2010 10:23

Written by Administrator

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There are articles and content useful to Unicorn helms on the following sites:

• site 1 ...
• site 2 ...
• site 3 ...
• site 4 ...

History of the Unicorn

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Published on Sunday, 15 August 2010 14:01

Written by Administrator

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• John Mazzotti came up with the unique tortured ply construction technique in 1964 that allowed the perfect high strength, light weight hull construction for catamarans. He began his experiments in 1964 the the B class Manta and when the IYRU laid down the specification for the A class in 1966, Mazzotti came up with the mythical beast, the Unicorn. She won the RYA trials convincingly in 1967 and came close to being selected as the boat of choice by the IYRU for the International A class
• The design took the catamaran world by storm, by the end of 1967 the boat had won every major A class event and had proved to be the fastest A class in the UK and the most stable throughout the world in all weathers.
• By the summer of 1968 there were over 150 boats registered, 70 in the UK, 50 in Canada, 15 in the US with smaller numbers in Belgium, Sweden, Australia, Germany and South Africa.
• Trowbridge and Sons became the official builders at the outset, building boats in wood and fibreglass as well as providing kits for home construction. The kit in 1968 was £198-8-0!!! Later South Midland Marine, South Midlands Laminates and Condor Catamarans Ltd joined those providing ready built boats and kits.
• Rarely has a boat been designed so perfectly straight out the box. Over the last forty years the changes have proved to be relatively minor - this design is just outstandingly good for high performance sailing in all weather conditions
• In the 80’s, Roger Dewen, an A class specialist designed a modified hull that was within the class templates. This hull design has more buoyancy in the bow and more rocker, these features allow the boat to be pushed even harder before submarining and allow more efficient tacking. He also experimented very successfully with a ‘knuckle’ on the keel line that allowed the boat to skim over the surface, almost a planing effect. This design (built in hull 1011) won the 1981 A class European Championships and the design has been adopted by Gary Piper in his fine boats.
• The majority of boats over the years have been home built to varying quality. Unfortunately this gave a reputation of the boat being fragile
• This is so far from the truth for a boat built professionally or to the proper standard. These boats will take the huge rig pressures of a high performance cat and absorb the rough and tumble of capsize, cartwheel and nose diving in their stride.
• Gary Piper, son of a master craftsman woodworker became fascinated by the wooden boats in the 1980’s. As well as sailing he began building them to a very high standard. He now builds a new boat most years and will build to order, using the Dewen hull design.
• If you need to be convinced about the performance of the Unicorn , check out the 2003 Rounde om Texel results. Dan Jarman, on his first visit to the great event finished 1st single hander on the water, 2nd on corrected time, 37th overall out of over 500 boats.