Jack Holt, OBE was a prolific designer of sailing dinghies. His pioneering designs of dingies using plywood

Plywood

Plywood is a type of manufactured timber made from thin sheets of wood veneer. It is one of the most widely used wood products. It is flexible, inexpensive, workable, re-usable, and can usually be locally manufactured...

 did much to popularise the sport of sailing

Sailing

Sailing is the propulsion of a vehicle and the control of its movement with large foils called sails. By changing the rigging, rudder, and sometimes the keel or centre board, a sailor manages the force of the wind on the sails in order to move the boat relative to its surrounding medium and...

 in the period immediately following World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

Born in Hammersmith

Hammersmith

Hammersmith is an urban centre in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London, England, in the United Kingdom, approximately five miles west of Charing Cross on the north bank of the River Thames...

, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 near the River Thames

River Thames

The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...

 Holt designed more than 40 boats, many of which are listed below. He worked for many years with fellow sailing enthusiast and businessman Beecher Moore

Beecher Moore

Beecher Moore, was a highly influential figure in the development of dinghy sailing in the United Kingdom after the Second World War...

.

Jack Holt was awarded an OBE

Order of the British Empire

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

 in 1979 for his services to sailing.

Sailing Clubs

Jack Holt has been associated with several sailing clubs. His premises were next door to Ranelagh Sailing Club, and he designed the Merlin Rocket and his National 12 designs there.

In 1956 he was a co-founder of Wraysbury Lake Sailing Club

He was closely associated with the London Corinthian Sailing Club

London Corinthian Sailing Club

The London Corinthian Sailing Club is based on the river Thames at Hammersmith. Its activities include Dinghy sailing and racing on the river, and yachting in the Solent and further afield, as well as an active social side including 'Club Nights' every Tuesday evening.An RYA-approved offshore...

, very close to his Putney premises

Jack Holt Designs

• Cadet
  Cadet (dinghy)
  The Cadet is a junior trainer sailing dinghy designed by Jack Holt, in 1947, who was commissioned to design it by Yachting World-magazine.-Background:The boat is crewed by two people and sails with a bermuda rigged mainsail, jib and spinnaker...
  
  
• Diamond Keelboat
• Enterprise
  Enterprise (dinghy)
  The Enterprise is a two-man sloop-rigged hiking sailing dinghy with distinctive blue sails. Despite being one of the older classes of dinghies, it remains popular in the United Kingdom and about a dozen other countries, and is used for both cruising and racing. It has a combination of size, weight,...
  
  
• GP 14
  GP14 (dinghy)
  The GP14 is a popular sailing dinghy, with over 14,000 built.The class is active in the UK, Ireland, Australia, South Africa, Sri Lanka and parts of north-eastern USA, and the GP 14 can be used for both racing and cruising. The boat is relatively heavy, but stable, and the weight and the...
  
  
• Heron
  Heron (dinghy)
  The Heron Dinghy is a dinghy designed by Jack Holt of the United Kingdom as the Yachting World Cartopper . The Heron dinghy was designed to be built by a home handyman out of marine ply over a timber frame, but can now also be constructed from marine ply using a stitch and glue technique or from...
  
  
• Hornet
  Hornet (dinghy)
  The Hornet dinghy is a 16 foot high performance dinghy designed by Jack Holt in 1952.It is sailed by two people, with either a sliding seat or a single trapeze, or where neither plank nor trapeze is fitted, by three people...
  
  
• International 10sq m Canoe
  International Canoe
  The International Canoe, or more properly the International Ten Square Meter Sailing Canoe, often abbreviated to IC is a powerful and extremely fast single handed sailing canoe whose rules are governed by the International Canoe Federation....
  
  
• International 14
  International 14
  The International 14 is 14-foot double-handed racing dinghy. The class originated in England in the early part of the 20th century. It is sailed and raced in many countries around the world and was one of the very first true international racing dinghy classes recognised by International Sailing...
  
  
• Jacksnipe
  Jacksnipe (dinghy)
  The Jacksnipe is a two-man racing sailing dinghy with a single trapeze for the crew and symmetrical spinnaker.-History and description:In the late 1960s, Jack Holt was asked by Peter Harris of the British Snipe Class Association to design an up-to-the-minute boat with a hull the same overall length...
  
  
• Lazy E
• Merlin Rocket
• Miracle
  Miracle (dinghy)
  The Miracle is a small dinghy sailboat popularized in the United Kingdom, and designed by Jack Holt — one of the last for the well-known designer...
  
  
• Mirror
  Mirror (dinghy)
  The Mirror is a very popular sailing dinghy, with more than 70,000 built.The Mirror was named after the Daily Mirror, a UK newspaper with a largely working class distribution. The Mirror was from the start promoted as an affordable boat, and as a design it has done a great deal to make dinghy...
  
  
• Mirror 16
  Mirror 16
  The Mirror 16 is a class of sailing dinghy which was sponsored by the Daily Mirror newspaper in 1963 and the design project was headed by Jack Holt. Its design was based upon the easy to construct "stich and glue" principle introduced by Barry Bucknall for the Mirror 11 dinghy. The Mirror 16 was...
  
  
• National 12
  National 12 (dinghy)
  The National 12 is a two-person, two-sail, twelve-foot long sailing dinghy. They are sailed extensively in the UK. The National 12 is a development class with a long, famous and intriguing history. The class was started in 1936 by the Royal Yachting Association as an alternative to the more...
  
  
• National E
• North Norfolk 16
• Pacer, formerly Puffin Pacer
  Pacer (dinghy)
  The Pacer class of sailing dinghy, formerly known as the Puffin Pacer, was designed in the United Kingdom by Jack Holt. It was commissioned by Puffin Paints and Glues to be designed as yacht for use by families. It has since become a popular learning and racing dinghy in Australia, Canada, Holland,...
  
  
• Rambler
• Solo
  Solo (dinghy)
  The National Solo class is a racing dinghy designed by Jack Holt in 1956. The Solo is sailed in the United Kingdom, Holland and Australia.Originally designed in wood, competitive boats are now widely available in Fibre Reinforced Plastic or composite construction as well as wood.2006 was the 50th...
  
  
• Streaker
  Streaker (dinghy)
  A Streaker is a type of sailing dinghy designed in 1975 by Jack Holt. It is a light one-person boat with a uni-rig stayed sail plan. It is sailed mainly in Britain and the Philippines, and over 1,500 have been built...
  
  
• Vagabond

A selection of Jack Holt plans are held in the archives of the National Maritime Museum Cornwall

National Maritime Museum Cornwall

The National Maritime Museum Cornwall is located in a harbourside building at Falmouth in Cornwall. The building was designed by architect M. J...

.

Boatbuilding

In addition to designing boats, Jack was also a boatbuilder. His fittings business was in the loft above the boatbuilding workshop. Naturally he built all the boats he designed, but he also built boats designed by others, including the Albacore

Albacore (dinghy)

The Albacore is a 4.57 m two-sailed planing dinghy developed in 1954 from an Uffa Fox design. Hulls may be made of either wood or fibreglass....

Sailing fittings

Jack collaborated with Glen and Tony Allen from Essex

Essex

Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...

to manufacture and supply a lightweight range of dinghy fittings, the fittings were known as Holt Allen fittings for 52 years until 2008 when the Allen side decided to distribute the fittings themselves under the brand Allenhttp://www.boatingbusiness.com/news101/holt_and_allen_split_after_52_years. The companies now trade separately as Holt Marine Ltd http://www.holt.eu/about/ and Allen Brothers (Fittings) Ltd http://www.allenbrothers.co.uk