The following story, by Paul Hughes, appeared in the Daily Mirror, Thursday 2nd January 1964, page 8 so the report text is © Daily Mirror. Also thanks to the www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk .
The need for more " parking space " for boats was emphasised yesterday Lord Jellicoe, First Lord of the Admiralty.
Opening the Boat Show at Earls Court, London he said that a quarter of a million people go sailing round Britain's coasts. The Minister added: "And these boats are chasing too few moorings. We have got to provide some facilities for them." Lord Jellicoe said that many more reservoirs could be used for dinghy sailing and that gravel pits, rivers and canals could be further developed. He added: " It is good to learn that things are at last moving."
“In the South and the South-East there are now proposals for yacht marinas at Poole, Lymington, Gosport, Warsash, Chichester, Brighton, Folkstone, Sheppy and Alvington Castle on the Medway” A marina is parking place for boats. One answer is to the lack of parking was on show – a dry land marina. This scaffolding structure can be used to park boats in pieon holes, like a multi-story car park. The boats are stack by a forklift truck.
Among the most popular exhibits was the “Boat of the Year” the red-sailed Mirror class dinghy, sponsored by the Daily Mirror. The dinghy, costing only £63 11s. in kit form, is featured on Stand E.3 and E.7, on the main aisle. In only a year's sailing, already nearly 900 of the dinghies have been sold - a record for a new class.
Boats varying from the most simple to the luxury yacht with central heating are on display. On one side of the hall, 60-year-old John Christmas Thomas is making coracles —round, basket - like boats which were used by the Ancient Britons. John, a roadsweeper, usually makes them in his workshops on the banks of the River Teify, Cardiganshire. They cost £12. On the other side of the exhibition there is the £22,700 "Emmeline," which can cruise for 700 miles without refuelling, The show is organised by the Ship and Boat Builders' National Federation and sponsored by the Daily Express.
There is also a British Pathé newsreel of the event. The Mirror dinghy is not mentioned, but it gives a good idea and feel of the show.
The (Daily) Mirror class dinghy was launched at the 1963 London International Boat Show. Nick Hodshon, who worked for Victor Shaw in Sales and Marketing Department of the Daily Mirror, takes up the story:
"Fortunately we had a stand just inside the main entrance but there where big objections from the Boat Show sponsors----The Daily Express newspaper. The compromise was that it was no longer the Daily Mirror Dinghy but simply, the Mirror Dinghy. IPC ( the parent company) had funded 250 kits to be ready for despatch from Bell Woodworking in Leicester and life was hectic throughout the show.
The exhibition staff had a few days holiday before we were back in the office at New Fetter lane. The gloom was that we had only sold 20 kits during the show and it appeared that the Dinghy Project would not be viable. Fortunately orders flooded in in the post and within the month all the kits had been sold and more kits where ordered - the rest is history."
The Boat Show was reported in the Daily Mirror, Wednesday 2nd January 1963, page 6. Amazingly there is no mention of the (Daily) Mirror Dinghy launch, maybe there was doubt about the Daily Express allowing the dinghy to appear right up to the last minute.
There is also a British Pathé newsreel of the event. The (Daily) Mirror dinghy is not mentioned, but it gives a good idea and feel of the show.
There is a story in Practical Boat Owner by Peter Baylis of one kit that was sold at the show.