OSPREYS BRIGHT NEW DAWN Ian Proctors son, Roger Proctor, a director of Ian Proctor Designs, tells his pleasure in the new FRP boat from Hartley Laminates. The Osprey is without doubt one of my fathers greatest boats. It was designed to be a contender for an Olympic Class in the early 1950s. At the trials it was pipped at the post by the Flying Dutchman. Ironically, I believe my father had previously been asked to ‘clean up’ the lines of the Dutchman! However, it was a close run thing. The Osprey was one of the very first trapeze boats, if not the first. My father decided to enter this revolutionary design in the Round the Island Race that was open to all newcomers for the coronation year. Sailing three up with himself, Cliff Norbury (British Olympic Coach in the 70’s and 80’s) and John Oakley (Olympic Squad member in the 70’s), they won by a matter of seconds in a dramatic all day race (their closest rival was a Jack Holt design, I forget the name). It was made all the more memorable by the very fact that my father was disabled through polio during the war, which meant that he only had one good arm, his left, and couldn’t breathe if he fell in cold water! We are now the proud possessors of the only Round the Island Race cup that has been able to be kept by the winner. It really put my father on the dinghy design map and established him as one of the UK’s three leading dinghy designers. We are therefore very proud of the Osprey. We, the Proctor family, are delighted that the Osprey has found a new beginning and look forward to seeing the final product. We wish you, the Class, well, and we are delighted that this great design will continue to give great pleasure to all who sail her.