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ASTERN
UFFA FOX • 1898 – 1972
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IT WAS A FEW WEEKS AGO when in casual conversation with John Longley, I was reminded of Uffa Fox the legendary English yacht designer.
We shouldn’t need reminding because every time we enter the Club we pass a fleet of his famous Flying 15 yachts parked on the old tennis court. Actually it would be more satisfying if all the trailers were empty and the boats out sailing!
The flying 15 was one of a series designed by Fox which included the Flying 10, 15, 25, 30, 35 up to the Flying 50. The difference between these and the various dinghies he designed was that the ‘Flying’ series all had a version of the famous streamlined bulb, fixed keel. It was his theory that a fixed keel sailboat with a high power to weight ratio, could be made to plane in the right conditions if handled correctly. There were a lot of ‘ifs’ involved but Uffa succeeded with all of this series with the exception of the 50.
While Uffa was the father of the ‘planing hull’ concept for dinghies, he also created the Airborne Lifeboat which he maintained was his most fulfilling design. I can now remember visiting a maritime museum in Portsmouth UK about 35 years ago and seeing a most remarkable boat on display. John Longley has attached a photo.
This was a lightly built fibreglass craft, with lines that blended to the shape of the underside of an aircraft. It was dropped by parachute into the water close to survivors of a ditched aircraft. The Airborne had sails, engine, survival kit and instructions on how to sail. Many aircrews owed their lives to Uffa’s invention.
Following WW2 he became associated with Fairey Marine at the Hamble near Portsmouth. That group produced ‘hot moulded’ boats to his designs. These included International Fourteens, Firefly, Swordfish, Albacore Jollyboat, Duckling and the cruising yacht Atalanta. Later, in association with the US yachtsman/boatbuilder he produced the Daysailer and Javelin classes which are prolific in UK and elsewhere.
Uffa Fox is also remembered for his friendship with Prince Philip and his gift of the Flying 15 Coweslip in which the two of them sailed.
