Ron Beasley, world champion dinghy builder - Obituary
by Tom Foxall 17 Apr 03:00 NZST
Ron Beasley built his own Solo 2288 'My Way' © Brian Foxall
Ronald William Beasley was born on the 31st January 1931 and grew up in Bradley, Bilston in the Black Country. He left school at age fourteen. He then completed a seven-year joinery apprenticeship at 'Wilcocks' in Wolverhampton, punctuated with a one-year break for National Service.
Following his apprenticeship, Ron would work on a variety of woodworking projects in the next twenty years, including the restoration of the Great Hall in the Wills Memorial Building at the University of Bristol.
During his time as a joiner, Ron became interested in sailing. In 1965 he purchased an Enterprise dinghy kit for £65 with his brother-in-law Keith Jones using the building instruction manual as detailed by Jack Holt. Over the next six months the construction of Enterprise 1238 was completed. The boat was aptly named "Half Each", as Ron and Keith each owned, and had built, half the boat.
The home base for sailing was Greensforge Sailing Club, at Middle Pool which was located behind the Round Oak Steelworks at Pensnett, Dudley.
Keith recollects this period of time: "In 1958 I left the army and Ron and I decided to build a boat. After some discussion we went to Bala to see a thing called the Easter Regatta. We saw all the boats going in all directions and couldn't understand how they could be racing. We saw one with blue sails and thought this looked okay, so we built Enterprise 1238 in Ron's garage. We then looked for somewhere to sail where we found Greensforge."
He then goes on to describe their first sailing experience: "The first time we launched it we sat in the boat and said to a member what do we do now? He told us to pull that bit of string over there and we would start to move, and you know what? He was right.
"On the same day decided to follow a race. Somehow we got to the first mark first, not knowing what we had done. We thought we should wait until everyone had gone, so we waited until the last boat went past. The helmsman of the last boat asked us why we had stopped, so we explained and he laughed and said, 'what a shame because you had right of way!' Well we didn't make that mistake again!"
They became regular weekly sailors at Middle Pool and Keith recalls how they innovated Greensforge Sailing Club in those early days: "We had to build a collapsible changing room in the clubhouse as there was no space to build any proper ones. Members said we had only done it for ourselves as we capsized so often."
Bitten by the boat building bug, Ron used his spare time to build a Solo dinghy for himself, number 2288 named "My Way", and an Optimist K1192 "Dougal" for his son, Lyndon.
The early 1970s saw a recession in the UK. The number of unemployed workers rose to above one million for the first time since the 1930s, work dried up for the joinery company and Ron lost his job. With few opportunities currently available, Ron thought of setting up his own boat building and repair company. His bank manager was doubtful at the time, "where you live is the furthest part of the country from the sea, how can you make a business from boat building?" but Ron convinced him there would be a market for his work.
Ron initially started offering Optimist kits and repairs to damaged wooden boats. Very quickly, three Optimist kits were sold to Greensforge club members at £50 each, and many dinghy repairs were completed for the dinghy racing fraternity of the Black Country.
Ron then used his joinery skill to construct beautifully laminated rudders and centreboards, as well as steam-bent and laminated tillers. His work was something more akin to what you might see displayed as part of a sideboard, rather than a boat. Very rapidly his highly-decorative dinghy accessories were in demand. By the mid-seventies Ron's business was thriving, Optimist kits and boats were being sold throughout the UK and Europe, including to a young Clive Everest who would go on to design the RS300 and RS600.
In 1976, the Europe dinghy was being introduced to the UK, and the class association were looking for a builder of these complex cold-moulded wooden boats. Ron purchased an old Europa Moth from a member of Himley Hall Sailing Club with the plan of converting this into a class legal Europe dinghy with a daggerboard.
During the restoration, Ron discovered many constructional techniques that could help him build a brand-new Europe dinghy. K35 was duly built, with Ron being one of the first builders in the UK to use the new West epoxy system. The boat appeared at the dinghy exhibition at Picketts Lock in 1979.
Orders then came in for the Europe dinghy, including Ian Walters who would go on to become Europe National Champion. Ron's reputation spread throughout the sailing community for quality workmanship. His products were in demand, and he was the go-to person for stars of the International Moth class such as Chris Cottrill, who would later become Streaker National Champion twice.
In 1979 Ron was asked to build two Cadets for the Australian team to sail in the world championships at Torquay, as it was not worth them shipping over their own boats. One of the boats, sailed by Rod Behrens and Justin Keating, won the competition, and the other boat did well too. This led a flurry of orders, many from Holland. The boat that won the 1979 World Championship would also go onto win another World Championship.
Ron had built 60 Cadets at the time of the Pwllheli World Championships in 1987, when the Mark 3 fibreglass version emerged, which moved the class away from wood. Ron built a total of 100 Cadets before he retired in 1995.
Ron was a pioneer boat builder in precision, shape and beauty in wood. His reputation, skill and knowledge were unbeatable and helped shape the dinghy world to progress across the planet. He was an innovator and an important part of our boat building history and knowledge.
Thank you Ron for your important contribution to our sailing world.