History
 

LOA 27ft 11ins, LWL 20ft 0in, Beam 5ft 6ins, Draught 3ft 3ins.In October 1896, a decision was taken to instruct Charles Nicholson to design what became the first Bembridge Redwings. Fourteen were built ready to race in the 1897 season. The class prospered and more boats were built. Although some were sold out of the class, those that remained continued to race at Bembridge until the close of the 1937 season. That year, the owners decided to approach Charles Nicholson once more to design a replacement. The new design was approved and sixteen new boats were built ready for the 1938 season. Shortly after the war, three further boats were constructed - the last one being built in 1950 - thus completing the class of 20 that had been agreed would be the maximum built to the new design. In the mid-80's the class once more discussed its future and a decision was taken to build additional boats to the same design in GRP. In September 1987, the prototype GRP boat (No. 21 "Redwing") was launched. She was sailed and raced by Redwing owners throughout the 1988 season to evaluate her performance against her wooden sisters.

The first new GRP boats were ready for the 1989 season and twenty eight have been built so far - the last three being launched in 2000. Six wooden boats remain at Bembridge. Nos 1, 8,16 and 17 have been completely rebuilt and epoxied both inside and out. No 11 is to be similarly treated shortly leaving No 15 as the last "traditional" wooden boat at Bembridge. No. 18 was sadly lost at Cowes in 2000. Thirteen wooden boats were sold in 1989; twelve of them are currently owned as a fleet and used for corporate charter in Poole Harbour. A number of 1897 Redwings have been restored in recent years: No.16 "Red Mullet" is based at Bembridge; Nos.14 "Circus Girl" and 20 "Kestrel" are based at the Classic Boat Museum in Newport. No. 10 "Banzai" was last heard of at Whitby. No 23 "Snapper" returned to Bembridge in 1999 and is to be restored.

The Class Rules have always restricted the sail area to 200 sq ft, but owners are free to experiment with sail design. This has led over the years to many unusual innovations, perhaps the strangest being the propeller rig the first Lord Brabazon put on his old Redwing (No. 20 "Kestrel") in 1934. Owners of the class have continued to experiment in recent years, the most dramatic being the "swing rig" developed by John Cleave in the 1980s. The current very high aspect rig (with multitudinous controls) was developed by Vernon Stratton in the 1980s and is currently the most successful rig.

The Class celebrated it's centenary in 1997. 28 of the current fleet and 4 of the 1897 boats took part in a sailpast in Bembridge Harbour in August 1997 to complete the first hundred years of this famous and oldest established class in the country.