HUFF OF ARKLOW
Clockwise from
top: Huff’s more
spacious interior,
retaining the
original table.
Note the engine
box on the port
side to correct
her trim; Dominic
Bridgman (right)
and Barbara
(second left) with
training crew;
new stands for
the Andersen
winches; detailed
craftsmanship in
the lazarette
hatch lockdistinctive low sheerline. However, when Heard
discussed Uffa’s Thirty design with John Tyrrell, they
didn’t think it would be suitable for the offshore sailing
that Heard was planning and they decided to raise the
sheerline over most of the length of the boat to improve
her seaworthiness and accommodation, while retaining
the low sheerline aft to make it easier for Heard – who
continued to suffer from injuries sustained when serving
as an RAF pilot during the war – to get aboard. And so,
it is said, the name Huff was derived from the letters of
her creators’ names as the design was considered to be a
quarter Heard’s and three quarters Uffa’s.
Huff’s hull was built upside down from two layers of
Honduras mahogany planking – the inner (3/8in) layer is
diagonal, the outer (5/8in) is fore and aft – with white
lead and calico between. Her 2in x 2in American elm
frames are at 6in spacings.
Her design was ahead of its time in a number of ways.
A masthead sloop rig was particularly innovative and,
although fin and skeg boats had been around for a long
time, it was to be another 15 years or so before they
began to be adopted for offshore racing, and even longer
for cruising. Huff initially had a well which was intended
for an outboard engine, but clearly this didn’t work out
and within a couple of years a small – probably about
10hp – inboard petrol engine was installed. Furthermore,
the wheel steering with which she was initially fitted was
soon replaced by a tiller.
Heard owned Huff for 13 years and during that time
he cruised her extensively, visiting the Azores and Iceland
amongst other places, and winning the Irish Cruising
Club’s coveted Faulkner Cup twice in the process. In
1964 he sold her to Rory O’Hanlon – another future
Royal St George commodore – who kept her for four
years. After that she was based in Liverpool’s Glasson
Dock and seems to have suffered from some neglect, but
that paled into insignificance when, one day in 1978, her
owner set fire to her. Reports vary as to whether this was
a result of mental illness or so that he could make an
insurance claim, but he was given an eight month prison
sentence and all that was left of Huff was an empty,
severely damaged hull. She would have been scrapped if
it wasn’t for Chris Allen, a carpenter and pub singer,
who bought her for £500 from the insurance company,
took her back to his home in Southampton and set about
restoring her. He was by no means wealthy and nor was
he particularly skilled in boatbuilding terms, and the fact
that he managed to complete Huff’s rebuild says much
for his determination. It took him a long time though,
but in 1983 she was re-launched and Allen then used her
for chartering and for sail training with disadvantaged
people from inner cities.