VIGILANT

VIGILANT was one of Uffa's early ventures into keelboat design. Built in 1930, she is based on the 22 Square Metre Skerry Cruiser rules. She is of very light construction, so much so that the Q Class which raced on the Solent refused to allow her to compete.

Uffa cruised Vigilant to Sweden to race in the Royal Swedish Yacht Club Centenary Races at Stockholm. He did not excel in the racing there, possibly because his racing experience had largely been in dinghies.

Vigilant was partly restored in the 1970s when her cabin was extended to provide better accommodation but was then laid up in 1975. She was rediscovered in Loddon, Norfolk by Andrew Thornhill who spent from 1990 to 1994 bringing her back almost to her original condition. Today she is part of the International Sailing Craft Association (ISCA) Maritime Museum's fleet based at Lowestoft from where she has visited events as far apart as the Clyde and Solent.

She was one of the stars of the show at the Uffa Fox Centenary Regatta in 1998.

The boat is recorded in Uffa's 1934 book Sailing, Seamanship and Yacht Construction with an abridged version in The Best of Uffa edited by Guy Cole (still in print with Adlard Coles Nautical, London).

Length Overall 34'-6''
Length WL 25'-6''
Beam Max 6'-4''
Draught 4'-3''
Sail Area (sq feet) 236
Displacement (lb) 4480
The original plans were of poor quality and have been redrawn. The following are included:
Lines Plan and Offsets
Hull Construction
Sail Plan
Mast Plan
Price per set: £50

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