Sternpost Vigilant off Cowes
should experiment with the economical Scandinavian design. He came up with the 34ft (10.4m) 22m2
Vigilant.
Her build, rig and hull shape bear comparison with some of the latest cruiser-racer production boats sailed in the Round the Island Race.
After a voyage to Sweden in 1930, Uffa wrote:
Lessons from the 1930s T
he 2011 Round the Island Race was a disaster. Fortunately not like the Fastnet Race of 1978, when many lost their lives; but with high winds leading to many withdrawals, dismastings, gear failure, broken rudders and multihull capsizes, it was disastrous all the same. There were no doubt enquiries, some official. I suggest that any enquiry should start with reading the articles on Vigilant and Vixen in the May and June 2011 issues of Classic Boat (CB275 and CB276), for a historical perspective on the modern cruiser-racer. These articles show that as early as 1930, safe, fast cruiser- racers that were cheap to build had been developed in Scandinavia, and their qualities proven in Britain by the legendary British boat designer Uffa Fox. In Scandinavia there was a tradition of lightly-built, seaworthy open boats going back to Viking times. From this illustrious background, designers such as Knud Reimers developed a range of simple, fast sailing yachts known as the Skerry class, in sizes of 15m2 15m2
, 22m2 and 30m2 , built at the Kungsörs yard in 1937.
During the Great Depression of the early 1930s, money was tight, so it was understandable that Uffa Fox – a man of limited financial resources himself and a pioneer designer and builder of fast, lightweight sailing dinghies –
98 CLASSIC BOAT MAY 2012 . Vixen was a
“Steered with a simple wooden slat called a ‘tiller’”
Today’s boat designers should study classics, says James Wharram
‘Vigilant’s astonishing performance in big seas and heavy weather made us realise how little we knew of the ability of a long, easily driven hull in stormy waters.’ Compare this with what one yachting critic wrote about the boats in the Round the Island Race. He referred to the problems from which these latest cruiser-racers suffered, as the ‘family/office-outing/floating-caravan factor’! Vigilant and Vixen didn’t suffer from this problem. They were designed to be built cheaply and quickly, and to sail well with a minimum of canvas and expensive fittings. Creature comforts came last, though this can be a debating point. Many people prefer camping to caravanning. Vigilant’s mast was totally eco; made in wood by skilled boatbuilders in a simple shed. The halyards and the luff rope of the mainsail ran up the inside of the hollow spar. Its design, with streamlined section and minimum- turbulence sail attachment, is probably aerodynamically cleaner than most of the latest high-tech sail and mast designs, but much lower in cost. The mast had galvanised wire stays attached to the hull by rope lanyards – again simple and economical. Uffa wrote: “Vigilant has lanyards made of Russian hemp instead of the usual rigging screws. I have old fashioned ideas on the subject.” Lanyards ease
shock loading on the rigging and hull. Vigilant also had a relatively small ¾ rig, which again reduced loading on the hull. A much heavier and bulkier modern cruiser-racer of Vigilant’s length needs a high-stress masthead rig of 50m2
to give it equivalent racing
performance. Even with this small rig, Uffa reported 9-knot averages under hard-reefed conditions. His speed reports were confirmed by Vixen, which reached a best of 200nM in one 24-hour period on the same re-enactment voyage to Sweden as the rebuilt Vigilant. Her peak speed of 13.4 knots was achieved while carrying full cruising stores. Vigilant and Vixen were steered through gales at high speed with a simple wooden slat called a ‘tiller’, a very inexpensive system, with the helmsman sitting snugly in a sheltered cockpit. At least three of the Round the Island fleet had rudder breakages. They relied on large, expensive wheel steering systems (two wheels in some cases), with the helmsman standing exposed at the back of an open cockpit. It would appear that the forces on the rudders of these new designs are so great that only hydraulically powered systems will steer them. No wonder the rudders break. The question is: What do we want from our cruiser racers? Is their purpose to sail? Or are they marina homes aspiring to be racers?
COURTESY OF ROSEMARY JOY: CLASSIC BOAT MUSEUM, COWES
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