The National Scorpion Association organises racing events and events to promote the class every year. The Silver Scorpion Travellers' series of Open Meetings sponsored by CraftInsure are spread over the season and over the country. The annual highlight is the National Championships, which were hosted in 2023 by Eastbourne Sovereign Sailing Club in Sussex. The TCL - Scorpion National Championships 2024 are at Castle Cove SC in Weymouth.
Open Meeting Season 2025
A big thank you to CraftInsure for once again sponsoring the silver scorpion circuit. 2025 is shaping up to be a big year for the scorpions and we look forward to see you all out on the circuit!
John Tailby and Chris Martin – Silver Scorpion coordinators
August: Saturday Sat 2nd - Fri 8 Penzance SC (Nationals)
Sept: 13/14 - Bala
Oct: 11/12 - Notts (End of Season)
Future National Championships
2025 Penzance SC, Cornwall Saturday Sat 2nd Aug - Fri 8 Aug
2026 Looe SC, Cornwall Saturday Sat 1st Aug - Fri 7 Aug
2027 Tenby (Dinbych-y-pysgod), Pembrokeshire, Wales Saturday 24th - Fri 30th July
2028 Mounts Bay SC, Cornwall dates tba
Webcollect
Enter future National Scorpion Events through Webcollect
New members, renewals and event entries should be via the link here or event entries can be made using the Upcoming events selections on this page...please contact us with any questions.
National Scorpion Class Dinghy
The Scorpion dinghy is the 'modern classic' dinghy – a 'classic' in the sense that the strict 14' design is now over 60 years’ old but 'modern' because we keep up to date with affordable technology. Hulls are available in FRP, wood and composite forms. Cockpit layout and rig controls can be tailored to suit personal choice, with various combinations of sails, spars and foils permitted.
The Scorpion’s classic design gives enhanced versatility, longevity, durability and competitiveness. The Penzance 2021 National Championships highlighted this when Scorpion 1880 ‘Shock Wave’ (a wooden Turner build from circa 1985) led the fleet for most of the final race. New boats are always welcome in the fleet but they are not essential to win, as reigning Champions Tom Gillard and Rachael Rhodes demonstrated at Penzance and at Llandudno 2019 in their 10 year old FRP design 'Barely Illegal'.
You can find out more about the Scorpion's technical details, Class rules, Tuning Guides and inside information here.
Ideally suited to recreational dinghy sailing for all ages, the Scorpion is a popular and well supported class with an active second hand market protecting your investment in a new or previously enjoyed boat. Contact us if you’re interested in trying out a Scorpion, would like to join our annual Silver Scorpion Open Meeting programme or have any questions about the Scorpion dinghy.
Social
Extract from Mark Jardine’s interview with Tom Gillard re his (together variously with Rachel Gray & Andy Thompson) remarkable success in multi-classes in recent years …
"A good time off the water is just as important as the sailing, so I asked Tom which class, in his opinion, has the best social activities:
I would say the Scorpion. It's a chilled-out vibe, a nice bunch of people, with newcomers to the fleet alongside old hands, and everybody's very open about what they do to make the boat go fast. It's a real community. The class is going from strength to strength; whether you've got a wooden boat or a fibreglass boat, there's help everywhere, and no-one feels at a disadvantage."
