Trainee Mer-Jim
The Trainee class was designed in 1931 by R. "Nip" Thorpe. The 12 ft, cat-rigged, gunter, sharpie was designed as an introductory class for young sailors, prior to graduating to the more powerful skiffs and unlimited sharpies. The hull was designed to be simply built, with a cross-planked bottom and each side made of a single plank of hoop pine.
When Nip Thorpe died in 1937, "Nip Thorpe's Navy" numbered more than 40 boats. Trainee numbers boomed after World War 2, with fleets lining the Bulimba and Hamilton reaches, the Oxley Sailing Club, Sandgate Yacht Club, and Shorncliffe Training Squadron as well as other clubs in Queensland , New South Wales and Victoria.
Kurlamo
In 1961 the hull specifications allowed for the construction of lighter plywood hulls, buoyancy tanks and a Bermudan rig, becoming what is today the Thorpe class.
Mer-Jim was built by Norman Wright & Sons in 1952
