Bjarne Aas
1886-196956 CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2019
B
efore going into the technicalities of
why I have chosen to write about
this great yacht, it’s worth noting
that she has, in spades, those emotive
qualities that inspire confidence, foster
attachment and get the heart racing. I am
not alone in having been influenced greatly
by this yacht and consider myself fortunate
to be one of a number for whom “becoming
If trained” has been a rite of passage.
In recent years you may be forgiven for
thinking that her most striking feature was
her red topsides, certainly unusual for a
yacht from the 1920s and quite conspicuous
in the regattas she attended. Her lines
nonetheless stood out as purposeful and fast.
Designed and built in 1929 in Norway by
Bjarne Aas, If was originally a Norwegian 8
though until recently she has been based mostly
in the UK. Aas is more famous now for his creation of
the International One Design, but for many years he
dominated the 5.5-M and 6-M classes and along with
his countryman and rival Johan Anker, Bjarne Aas is
rightly regarded as one of the most significant designers
to the International Rule. Aas’s talent for designing
seaworthy, beautiful boats that proved fast in heavy
weather is showcased perfectly in If.
Writing in 1935 in his Second Book, Uffa Fox’s words
describing her cannot be bettered: “If is the best hard-
weather 8M yet seen in Norway, and looking at her lines
it is easy for us to imagine her driving to windward
against a strong wind and sea. Those of us who have
sailed in her realise more clearly the speed and power
wrapped up in this design. The sections are those of
an exceptionally seaworthy cruiser, whose fore and
aft lines are such as give her a remarkable turn of speed.
Besides her evident ability to windward we can see by
her clean buttock lines, which give her a long easy run,
that she is capable of high speeds off the wind...”
Not all metre yachts are born equal and had If shared
the same delicate lines of some of her lake-bound, inshore
cousins, she almost certainly would never have achieved
half of her accomplishments. Racing first in the UK as
a handicap cruiser, If’s weatherly characteristics werecapitalised on in rigging her as a masthead
cutter, under which guise and sporting a blue
hull, her first British owner Colonel Cleaver
earned her notoriety as a “diminutive
privateer” pot hunting in ports all round the
UK and channel waters. The 1939 Yachting
Monthly article “Becoming If trained”
describes her fourth UK season, painting an
evocative and amusing picture of a coastal
racing season in the company of the 12mR
fleet and a variety of other fine yachts.
Her ability to put to sea in less than ideal
conditions combined with her speed in
said conditions meant she never lagged far
behind the “12s” between regattas.
The parallels between this account of
racing in the 1930s and my own experience
on board are uncanny. This outgoing,
itinerant (and rather alcohol-fuelled) programme was
to be resumed decades later when, after her time racing
with the 8s on the Clyde and subsequent full restoration
by Peter Wilson at the Aldeburgh Boat
Yard, If came back on to the scene with a vengeance.
Rigged as and proven to be a competitive 8M, she
retained her weatherliness and remained practical
for shorthanded deliveries. Furthermore, where her
contemporaries may have foundered in open water
due to wide, open cockpit layouts, If could batten
down the hatches to ride out the worst of it.
As in times past, If travelled to all her regattas where
possible on her own keel. With an impressive log and
accompanying adventures, enough to merit its own
book, If has left her legacy in the class, the prize of her
half model awarded at every world championships to
the yacht who has travelled furthest on her own keel
to attend. Not for the first time can it be said that “the
yacht has certainly acquired something of her owner’s
indomitable character”.
As of 2017, If has now returned to her homeland
of Norway, and on leaving the UK in smoke-grey livery
and sporting a new cockpit layout she is transformed
once again into a thoroughbred 8.
If is a truly great yacht, a rare all rounder and
stunning to boot.Our series resumes with a look at one
of the most superlative 8s ever designed
BY JACK GIFFORD8 Metre If
Design by Bjarne Aas
CLASSIC DESIGN