Those of you who sail at Castle Cove may have been aware of an old woodie tied to the fence and falling to bits at the back of the dinghy park. My woodie fetish got the better of me and I bought it from Mike at CCSC last October. It's Claridge 905, a lovely ship and the 1995 Nationals winner apparently! I have now completed a 7 month restoration project and its looking a whole lot better. The biggest issue with my last woodie was that it was about half a ton overweight. I put this one on the scales after a complete strip down, dry-out and new paint and it weighed 61.8kg. It will now be a little heavier with the addition of the centreboard, fittings and control lines, but hopefully won't be too far over. I've sailed it a couple of times and it certainly feels a lot lighter and tighter than the old one, but I haven't had the chance to compare performance to other boats in any meaningful way yet.