History on the water

By Gemma Good

Boating enthusiasts Fred and George Ternan are sailing down memory lane, having restored a Snipe Class Sailing Dinghy.

The dinghy was designed by an American man named Bill Crosby in 1933. Shortly after this, they began to be produced in Ireland. The sport was a great hit with the Irish people. The Snipe Sailing Club was established at Strangford Lough in Ireland in the 1930s, hosting a world championship around this time. The second world war put a hold on the recreational activity for some time. In the 1950s the sport resumed in Strangford and Belfast. Some of these boats travelled to upper Lough Erne. Picking up where it left off before the war, Snipe dinghy racing began in Crom from 1954 until the beginning of the 1970s. A rare boat, it is believed that there are only four of its kind in Ireland. Three of these boats belong to Fred Ternan, who is the founder of Lough Erne Heritage.

The boats, along with their story, were given to Fred by Mr J Madden from Hilton Park in Clones.

“Recently myself and my brother restored one of them,” said Fred proudly.

Passionate about the river’s history, Fred formed Lough Erne Heritage in 2015.

“The purpose of the organisation was to promote and preserve the boating heritage of Lough Erne and the area around it.”

Fred explained boats were an important part of life in Fermanagh for thousands of years, necessary for transporting people and goods. Many boats have sailed these waters including log boats, Lough Erne cots, clinker built boats and steamboats as well as various yachts.

“I became aware that there were a couple of these boats at Crom,” said Fred of the Snipe boat

After speaking with Johnny Madden, Fred thought the boat's story was “fascinating” and hopes to restore his other two boats in the future.

“It relates so directly to the yachting and sailing heritage of Lough Erne,” he beamed.

“It’s new to a whole lot of people and it highlights another aspect of sailing.”

The boats were built “simply for sailing and racing” and are still raced throughout the world today. Fred and his brother George found the restoration process “very interesting". They enjoyed the challenge of learning how the boat was put together in the 1930s. The first dinghy was made out of planks, which have now been replaced with carbon fibre or GRP.

“Back then they didn’t have the glues that we have nowadays,” he said, explaining brass screws were used.

The retired pair carried out the project at their leisure, working on the boat “for a few hours now and again" as a "hobby".

Fred explained boat names are chosen by the original owner. He is unsure if this particular boat’s name derived from its comrade on the water.

This Snipe Dinghy, named Ranger, will be launched this Saturday at 11am at the Visitor Centre in Crom.

“The original owner will be there,” Fred said, assuring he will relay some of the history of the boat, along with other people in boat racing history circles.

Fred and his daughter are going to sail from there to the boathouse where Lord Erne will speak along with Johnny Madden. He called for people with any history on the boats to reach out to the centre.

He's also encouraged people to “come along and watch the boat sailing".

“It will be the first time that one of these boats would have been sailed in more than 50 years,” Fred proudly concluded.