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Hi Simon
2689 looks very similar to how 2679 looked when i started her.
Answers...1.The teak gunwhales were just unscrewed from the boat, sanded down and coated with Danish Teak Oil, as was the thwart. 2. The gel coat was too far gone to restore and there were areas of damage to the hull that had to be filled so the whole hull was repainted (in a spray booth) with colours as close to original as possible. Foils were stripped with paint remover, and repainted by hand. Tiller and extension were sanded down and revarnished.
Hope that helps.
Any further questions just shout...or email!
Cheers
Ed

One of the batch of Cheshire Dinghy&Dive/Nigel Waller built Baggies of which 3216 and 3217 were probably the most famous. Annette (I think from memory) Hughes won the Money Cup for the top placed female at the champs three times in the 1980's......I may have more on her in the archive but thats all I can remember just now.

You will find the story of Gryphon in the history of the Class in the Association Handbook. The you tube video in link above was posted by me. Mike Shallow and crew "trialling" a spinnaker in their Final Chapter at the Exmouth Burton Week in 1992. The story goes that Phil Morrison who was watching with the rest of us on the beach went away and created the RS200.....

Some observations from the far north....
I was generally under the impression that the largest numbers of active 12's were in the south and accordingly that was why the Champs had become rather south coast centric over the years. That however doesnt seem to gel with the large turnouts at Ripon in recent years.....
However with only ~30 boats turning up to Herne Bay can the Class afford to take the risk of a northern venue and have less people turn out.....or would it actually encourage a higher attendance? Perhaps a census of where the most active clubs/boats are located would help? And a new survey to assess peoples current views on the champs format, location etc?
My last champs was in 1992..since then work, kids and travel got in the way....that said with kids (almost) grown up there has been idle chat in Cramond dinghy park about a return to the 80th Burton Week next year....
However in the last couple of years there seems to have been less people travelling.....Castle Semple was only supported by Scottish boats last year and cancelled this year and Cramond saw no visitors at all this year, although thankfully with five 12's in the dinghy park it was viable! I will be interested to see what support we get at Solway. Have austerity measures impacted on peoples desire and ability to travel? 
I personally have deliberately focussed more on club racing in the last couple of years to and raise the profile of the Class at home and to try and entice more people into trying a 12....and whilst a slow process it does seem to be working...we just had a great weekend of sailing with our club cadets as crews, with other adults now also asking if they can try one. 
But I'm now meandering off topic....

To bring the story of Dolly Blotter up to date...she was relaunched in August 2015 and on her first outing in a light wind club race took line honours helmed by Alex Tulloch. She has subsequently been sailed in a variety of conditions, highlighting a To Do list which which has been steadily sorted out...just leaking tank hatches, bailers and transom flaps to sort now! The pictures below show her being sailed at Cramond Boat Club on 30th August 2015...giving as planned some of our cadets the opportunity to experience N12 sailing!

I am planning to be there..probably with N3274

Thanks Will and shame to miss you. Yesterday was a little wild! The Committee boat recorded 29mph at one point. Incredibly fast reaches on flat water. Awesome. Today has dawned with clear blue skies and slightly more sensible winds!

Advertised on eBay August 2015. Located in Shoreham-by-Sea. Advert reads as follows :
The hull is in reasonable condition, sanded externally, with the foredeck, side decks and stern decking in place. It has been in dry storage for around 10 years.
 The centreboard case has been removed, but a drawing showing the dimensions will be supplied, along with a cd with pictures of the boat before being put into storage.
 There is an aluminium mast, centreboard, aluminium rudder stock and rudder blade. There is also a few other parts of rigging that might be re-used or replaced.
 It is being listed for 99p as I hope that someone will be interested in restoring it and using it in some way, even as a rowing dinghy (without the rig) for fun as it is too good to break up, but unfortunately this will have to happen if there is no interest.

Couldnt resist....

And finishing touch with name graphic from www.funkymonkeyboatnames.co.uk

last one....next to go sailing!

Side view....

And the next few shots show N2679 after sorting the inetrior and all the control lines....nice simple, clean interior!

August 2015 and N2679 is about to be relaunched. What started out as asimple tidy up ended up with a complete restoration, but she's looking good now and hopefully goes as well and will entice more people into the class.
Here with the rig up, sporting the 1979 vintage sails measured by Tim Tomlinson.

For sale on BoatsandOutboards website 2015. Located at Broxbourne SC.
http://www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk/Sailing-dinghies-for-sale/dart-national-12/90110#uXJ1sDcGPGd3cG24.97