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The Design.
The 14ft Wanderer was designed by Ian Proctor for Margaret Dye, doyen of all small boat cruisers. 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.

Development.
All Wanderers are now built with added strengtheners within the hull to facilitate the option of a steel centreplate, which gives added stability and stiffness when sailing in less sheltered/coastal waters. The steel centreplate is replaced with the standard wooded centreplate for Class racing.

Specification.
Silver anodised mast and boom, stainless steel rigging, shroud adjusters, port, starboard and forestay covers from Proctor Masters. Main halyard in pre-stretched terylene. Genoa halyard in s/s wire with soft eye to pre-stretched terylene tail. Highfield lever to tension genoa luff. Boom comes complete with full slab reefing equipment fitted. A standard cruising mainsail (74 sq ft) in white 4 US oz polyester, with reefing and Cunningham cringles, numbers, Class insignia and battens. Standard cruising Genoa (41 sq ft) also in white 4 US oz polyester has an internal s/s wire luff and window.

There is a lifting rudder with metal stock and detachable tiller with tiller extension. Nylon blocks are fitted under the gudgeon and pintle and all fittings are bolted through with s/s locknuts. Terylene toe straps are adjustable fore and aft with 5mm pre-stretched polyester rope. Marine ply floorboards with non-slip finish are supplied with cut-outs for Super Maxi bailers, that are now fitted as standard. A keel band is fitted throughout the length of the boat. Genoa fairleads, jamming cleats, drain plugs, allow mainsheet track traveller with end chocks and control lines are all fitted.

The centreboard has a fully adjustable friction pad and is made of 24mm selected marine ply.  All fastenings are bolted trough with s/s nuts and washers that are used extensively throughout in place of self-tappers. (For single-handed sailing or for family cruising, Wanderer also has the option of fitting as an extra, a galvanized steel centreplate. Weighing 85lb, this increases substantially the already high stability of the boat making a capsize virtually impossible.

The Rig.
Stepping a Wanderer mast is child's play compared to many others. A nice civilised tabernacle solves all mast raising problems and allows clever rake adjustments afloat. The wire roller genoa halyard (and therefore the whole rig) is tensioned with a Highfield lever in the conventional manner. Spinnaker and genoa sheets are bought to the thwart where they can be reached by anyone, while the main traveller control lines are brought to controls forward of the transom mounted track. An important feature on the Wanderer MD is its buoyancy distribution and its capabilities for ease of righting from any capsize and the provision of fastenings to accommodate a 3.3 hp outboard engine.