KALI, later BUZZING BEE
The 1930 West Mersea One Design dinghy KALI, later renamed BUZZING BEE, survives in the Mersea Museum maritime collection. She was acquired by maritime historian John Leather and has been displayed with shipwright’s tools. The boat records the island’s pre-war small-boat sailing tradition, alongside its better-known oyster smacks and working punts.
Morgan Giles and Blackwater Sailing Club
In 1911 Morgan Giles designed a 12-foot-6-inch centreboard dinghy for Blackwater Sailing Club, then based at West Mersea. It had a beam of 4 feet 10 inches, carried 90 square feet of sail and drew only six inches with its centreboard raised.
The design was intended as a useful cruising-yacht tender that could also race against others built to the same specification. Its spars could be stowed inboard and the boat could be changed quickly from sailing to rowing. Morgan Giles offered complete examples, with gear and oars, for £20.
The Sprite class from 1934
Robert N. Stone designed the 14-foot Sprite for West Mersea Yacht Club in 1934. Twelve were ready for the first racing season in 1935, and 37 were based at the yacht club by 1945. The Brightlingsea yard of D. Stone & Son built most examples in the 1930s and 1940s; the class also became popular with Blackwater Sailing Club at Heybridge.
The 1911 Morgan Giles design, the surviving 1930 dinghy BUZZING BEE and the 1934 Sprite are **distinct designs**, not three names for one class.
Plans and surviving examples
Morgan Giles Blackwater dinghy specification · Sprite class history · 2011 exhibition record of BUZZING BEE.