The Dart Yacht club was formed in 1866 and in 1873 gained Royal approval after petitioning Queen Victoria to become the Royal Dart Yacht Club.
Initially the club had little interest in dinghy sailing but in 1923 Morgan Giles produced a Dart one-design. This was a 12ft 6in dinghy with a gunter-rigged sail area of 100 sq ft. that was designed to sit comfortably on a mooring. An order for seven of these were given to Morgan Giles and were built of mahogany with 60 lb centre keels with copper air-tight tanks. A number of these had been established at the Royal Naval College and a few of these were owned by Royal Dart members. A problem arose in that ladies and children were not allowed to be members so were not allowed to take part in races for single handed dinghies under Yacht Racing Association rules. To overcome this the dinghy owners formed their own club called the Dart One Design Dinghy Club. Initially the DOD Club was affiliated to the Royal Dart but later ladies and children of members were allowed to join the club.
It is believed a number of these dinghies are still in existence.
