New AcquisitionsThe
David Hillyard Story; John Balchin;
published by the author,
2004;. C A 16420.
Wedged
in the centre cockpit with high coamings to keep out the water should they take
the ground and lean over, many Hillyard owners have felt secure enough to embark
on long voyages. Several circumnavigations have been achieved in Hillyards, and
many more Atlantic crossings. There is a high survival rate for the 600-plus
wooden vessels built at Littlehampton by David Hillyard from 1919 onwards, a
tribute to the excellence of their design and construction. To a customer for
his smallest 2.5 tonner, Hillyard gave the assurance “this will take you
anywhere that your courage allows you to go”.
Drawing
on the records of the Hillyard Owners Association, Lloyds’ Register of Yachts
and the scanty records surviving at the yard, John Balchin has combined a
history of the business with a biography of its founder, and accounts of some of
his yachts’ more remarkable achievements. Arthur Ransome chartered Barnacle
Goose for a trial before owning Spindrift/Nancy
Blackett and later ordering Lottie
Blossom.All these Hillyard yachts are still sailing.
A
useful Appendix lists particulars of several hundred Hillyard yachts; it would
be improved by cross-referring to vessels named in the text. Another improvement
would be to eliminate or clarify those line drawings whose captions are
illegible through reduction An
extensive bibliography completes this tribute to one our best-loved cruising
yacht designers. -
J R
Page prepared 17 January 2005
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