The Cherub is a 12 feet long, high performance, two-person, planing dinghy first designed in 1951 in New Zealand by John Spencer (d 1996). The class is a development (or "box rule") class, allowing for significant variation in design between different boats within the rule framework. The minimum hull weight was originally 110 lbs. History In 1951 New Zealand naval architect John Spencer designed a 12-foot dinghy for his friend Ray Early to sail on Auckland Harbour. The boat was built to race in the Pennant Class and was named Cherub. Its superiority over other designs in the Pennant Class was immediately evident. Within a very short period of time a number of boats were racing in Auckland. A New Zealand class owner's association was established in 1952. The first manufacturer in the United Kingdom was McCutcheon's of Cowes in 1956. By 1963 there were 112 Cherubs registered in the UK. Basil Wright was instrumental in introducing the class to Australia when a fleet of six Cherubs were built at the Mounts Bay Sailing Club for the 1960-61 sailing season. The class spread quickly in Australia and when the first Australian National Championships were raced in 1963–64 at Newhaven Yacht Squadron in Victoria, there were representatives from Western Australia, Victoria and Queensland. The 1st World Cherub Championship were sailed on the Swan River in Perth Western Australia in 1970. The World Series was conceived by Basil Wright, then commodore of the Mounts Bay Sailing Club. Wright corresponded with countries around the world and planning for the series took over a year. There were five clubs that hosted the series. New Zealanders Russell Bowler and Peter Walker had taken a year off work and arrived in Perth in February 1969 for the series. They stayed at the home of Basil Wright. Bowler, an engineer, designed and built his controversial boat Jennifer Julian from foam - fibreglass - sandwich hull construction. As he did not contest the NZ Selection series he was eligible to be selected in the WA Cherub team. Full teams were expected for the series and by October 1969 all Australian states except NT and Tasmania were entered. New Zealand had eight entries with two entries each from Great Britain and the US and one from New Guinea. The Cherub Class International Association was formed in 1967. The inaugural World Championship were sailed on the Swan River in Perth