History

Minnow History

Rex Fettell originally designed the Minnow in Victoria in 1970. The following year, the Minnow class and the Minnow Association were formed. The Minnow is an 8ft sailing dinghy ideally suited to young sailors from 8 to 15 years.

Rex intended that his design would allow children to enjoy sailing in all conditions, without fear and dependency on outside assistance in the event of capsize. It is an ideal trainer boat with three inbuilt, independent buoyancy tanks. Should the dinghy capsize, there are only a few litres of water to deal with.

Our NT Minnow fleet began with Ian Batenburg, who launched his first Minnow, Bubbles, sail number 768, on 1 Dec 1986.  You can still see Bubbles on the water today! Ian built another 14 Minnows, ten of which are still in use. A number of our former Minnow sailors have progressed to be competitive at the National level in other fleets.  Sailing a Minnow continues to be the first big step into a life of sailing for many young Australians.

National Championship Roll of Honour