The Wanderer is a 14-foot FibreglasshullBermuda riggedsailing dinghy designed by Ian Proctor. One of the main objectives of the design was to produce a robust safe and versatile dinghy that could be used for knockabout day sailing and cruising as well as racing, but was light enough to be handled ashore. On the water the boat can be recognised by its Sail logo of a white W in a blue circular background. Over 1600 boats have been produced. It should not be confused with its larger cousin, the Wayfarer, which also sports a "W".
Design
The initial design brief was given to Ian Proctor by Margaret Dye who wanted a lighter dinghy than the Wayfarer that she had sailed with her husband Frank. Margaret and the late Frank Dye had a wealth of dinghy cruising experience, and their adventures have been captured in Margaret's book Dinghy Cruising – The Enjoyment of Wandering Afloat.. The Wanderer has Main and Jib sails; it can also be fitted with a Spinnaker. Reefing of the main sail is by slab reefing. The jib can be fitted with a roller furling system. The boat has high intrinsic stability, and the normal wooden centreplate can be replaced with an steel centre board which makes it even harder to capsize. The relatively light weight of the boat contributes to its ease of launching and recovery. The design allows for fitting of a long shafted outboard motor of up to 3.3 hp. There is very ample storage which includes a waterproof locker for storage of the outboard motor when not in use. The Wanderer dinghy design has evolved during the years of manufacture, one of the most significant early changes was the introduction of the MD modification. This was a modification to the distribution of buoyancy resulting in a reduction in the floating height of the boat after a capsize thus aiding recovery. More recently Hartley Laminates took over the copyright and manufacturing licence for the design. They secured the services of Phil Morrison to redesign the deck plug to modernise the appearance of the boat, allow the hull to self drain through transom flaps and to reduce the complexity of building the hull and thus production costs while retaining the same hull shape and rig.
