Ian Proctor Centenary 2018 Ian Proctor Centenary weekend - held at Bosham SC Speech by Roger Proctor. Report By Robin Gabbitas.
You have probably noticed from the yachting press that 2018 was the centenary of Ian Proctor's birth. A rally was proposed and hosted by Bosham SC, and took place over the weekend of 31 August to 2 September. Ian of course designed the Wanderer - one of his last designs - and some of you will have met and known him as he was very involved in setting up the Class Association and its constitution. I didn't, but I got the impression he liked his creation, and liked the ethos and culture of the Class Association (friendly, informal, thankfully persisting to this day). Our association with the Proctor family does not end there: I think I am right in saying that he gave a Wanderer to each of his family, and I think I have seen them all competing in the Salcombe regattas. Jill Davies (Ian’s daughter in case you did not know) and husband David have of course been enthusiatic participants in Wanderer events and significant founders and contributors to the Class Association. The Bosham rally brought it home, at least to me, that Ian was one of the greatest influences on the world of small boating, a prolific designer and innovator. When he died in 1992, 40% of the dinghy market was being built to Proctor designs. Phew! Anyway back to the rally. The Wanderer Class was well represented. David and Jill Davies were, of course, co-hosts. Philip Meadowcroft was invited to the event as someone who has done so much for the class, with W1541 Black Mischief, recently victorious in the 2018Wanderer National Championships. There were also three other Wanderers at the event belonging the Club members. I am sorry if some of you would have liked to have participated, but there was a limit and out of the boats Ian designed we did pretty well with four boats. I crewed for Philip on the first day. The event was a mixture of display and racing. It coincided with the annual Bosham Classic Boat Revival. There was not much display; it was a pretty full racing event with three races on Saturday and two on Sunday. There was a specially designated Proctor race for those that did not want to, or could not by reason of definition, participate in the Classic Boat races. It included quite a menagerie: including us and the three other Wanderers, Gull number 1, another very old Gull, the prototype Topper (looked like a plank with a sail and Roger
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Proctor perched on it), a quite old Wayfarer and a quite old National 12. Wanderers acquitted themselves well. I think it is fair to say that it was not the most competitive fleet of the weekend, but it did not feel that way. Overall Philip was a very convincing winner. That evening there was a formal dinner at Bosham SC and Roger Proctor’s speech was very special: Everywhere I go in the world where there is water, I find something that my father designed or had a hand in designing or conceiving. Whether it is a boat, a new material, a design development, sailing technique, a fitting, a mast or even a one handed paddle.
“He knew sailing was a different language that could bring people together” Now I want to especially mention David Henshall here. His research and balanced view of Ian Proctor’s legacy has been insightful and enriching for us. As a family we are obviously prejudiced. He was our father after all, supported every step of the way by our mother, herself an unsung hero. So if our mother said he could walk on water we probably believed her, up until the age of 12 or 13 that is. After 13 he was just Dad, sometimes annoying, a wise counsellor, great in a crisis, impossible over small things, never apologetic, confident, fun, demanding, family focused, caring, loving and proud. So we didn’t have, couldn’t have, a balanced view of him. But David has striven to give that balanced view. I even managed to force out of David at the Dinghy Show these immortal words - ‘Ian Proctor was the most popular boat designer of the 20th century’. Thank you, David! Significantly Ian Proctor was modest. He was intensely proud and confident, never doubting is own decisions and abilities. But he was never outwardly boasting or arrogant, when he had plenty of opportunity or cause to be so. So in some ways, because of this modesty and just
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