Squib “Second Wind” – where is she now? … And news of “Quicksilver”!
By Rear Admiral John Croydon
Some of you might remember me and my Squib, “Second Wind”, racing regularly at WSC until old age forced me to sell her in 2014. I bought her from new in late 1978 and thoroughly enjoyed my sailing over 30+ years. The highlight was probably the first race of the Squib Nationals at Weymouth in 1980 which we won, and went on to record 5th overall that year! I was crewed by my son, Greg, who now sails a Dehler 36 as a member of the Club.
Second Wind was sold to a member of an East Coast club who bought her for his partner to race. I tracked the boat’s intermittent results for a year or two, but then she dropped off the radar.
However, in 2018, we tracked her down to the Peninsular Sailing Club of Selangor in Malaysia! She had been bought by the Sailing Secretary there, Martin Grantham, to join a growing fleet of Squibs sailed in the Strait of Malacca near Kuala Lumpur docks. Their fleet has recently been registered with the Squib Association.
Martin very kindly sent us some photos of Second Wind emerging from a shipping container and local racing. Late last year there was a report on the Peninsular Club’s website of Second Wind winning a race and her “copper bottom” being the envy of the other boats, as this seems to be the only way to defeat the local barnacle and weed growth. It looks like they will all adopt this anti-fouling solution! I well remember applying this treatment many years ago, with the help of Club friends Peter Jackson and Ernie Lee. Fond memories!
I sent a Peter Toms print of Squibs racing in Weymouth Bay (featuring Second Wind prominently) to the Club in Malaysia during lockdown, including a history of my boat, and got a very interesting reply from Commodore Jeremy Camps – extracts below:
“I have the responsibility of bringing the Squibs to Malaysia, it’s actually a long running connection with the class. I owned, with my then father in law, Buccaneer no 20 sailing from RCYC at Burnham and was the first secretary of the Burnham Squib class. Oliver Lee had built my first Hornet dinghy and he persuaded me to buy the boat – I liked her then as I like them now.
When we set up PSC we had our cruisers. I had and still have an Impala 28, great light weather boat which I brought from the Medway. I was back on my twice yearly visit to England…….[in the bar of the Royal Burnham YC]…. I mentioned how I would like to set up a Squib fleet as they are such excellent all round boats. This guy said “I have one – you can have it for £500”. How could I turn that down? Then I began to think how I was going to get it to Malaysia. The Impala on a road trailer was $11,000. Another fella Rupert by name said he owned a container yard and thought he could get 2 in a 40ft container for £2,200.
The following morning I went to look at my new purchase. It was filled over the floor boards with water which the owner helped to bail. I would never have believed how much water a Squib could hold, but we bailed that out. Then I found that the front buoyancy tank was full as well and the trailer needed fixing.
On Sunday morning I was taken to watch my grandchildren sail Optimists on a pond which was a great way to start sailing… I sat with a group of friends who I had grown up with and one said “Jeremy is collecting Squibs”. Another guy said he had one and I could have it for £1,000 – so that was my pair!
Martin was, I think, the next to buy one with “Second Wind”. He paid £3,000 which shows how well he valued the boat. Two more were bought privately which I shipped, with me hoovering up the lower priced boats, buying blind. I think it says a lot for the owners that the only ones where I have had problems were bought from yards. The one called “Rats” actually had a rat in and had eaten part of the best main. The last boat we launched last week (although I bought it and shipped it a year ago) was “Quicksilver” which I recall was a Weymouth boat!
They have been a huge success because they are so versatile. We get a number of beginners and we can put two with an experienced helm. We have great sailing of course – it’s sun all the time and usually a gentle 10 knot breeze……..
….Once again, many thanks from all of us for the great print and the nice thought of sending it. It means a lot.
With best regards,
Jeremy Camps
Commodore Peninsular Sailing Club and Acting Squib Class Captain”
