Comments on: Uffa Fox’s great and lasting memorial – the Airborne Lifeboat

By: david.brecknell

david.brecknell — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:36:06 +0000

In Adlard Coles’ book “More Saling Days” (pub. 1947) there is the story of Uffa Fox racing “Airborne” under her original rig in a race from Cowes to the Chirstchurch Ledge buoy and back, on September 1st. 1945,with a big crew and a barrel of beer – and doing remarkably well!

By: Oliver Shaw

Oliver Shaw — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 06:45:57 +0000

Yes, you are right about them being used long after the war by sailing schools, and about them being raced as a class.

For part of the summer of 1963 I taught at Plymouth Sailing School, who had a fleet of three of them. Ballasted with concrete in the bilges if I remember correctly, which allowed one to walk around on the decks and gave them the stability of a yacht of comparable hull form, and with Flying Fifteen rigs.

They were also raced as a class in Plymouth Sound, and I remember that one Saturday – which was the changeover day for our weekly courses and thus a non-teaching day – we entered all our three Airbornes in a local regatta, which had a class for them. I don’t remember just how Airbornes many raced on that occasion, but it was certainly significantly more than just our three.

Oliver L. Shaw

By: Classic Boat Museum

Classic Boat Museum — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 22:05:48 +0000

The Classic Boat Museum is on the Quay at Newport. Isle of Wight
The Museum opened in 1996, and houses an exciting collection of sailing and power boats, of both local and national interest and importance.
We are a Charity and Registered Museum, and run entirely by volunteers, Our aim is to preserve and present the best of those boats that demonstrate the workmanship of past generations for the delight of the present.
As well as the exhibitions in the Museum, we have a restoration shed where work takes place all year round, restoring to their original condition boats that are part of our maritime heritage.
Our collection contains not only classic boats, but also tools, artefacts, books, photographs, film and archival items that relate to much of the history of boat building, sailing, yachting, cruising and racing over the last century, in the Solent and beyond. Our boats also include an airborne lifeboat that was dropped to aircrew who had been shot down during the last war. This is a Mk1a and was No Q11. She was found on the outskirts of Colchester, Essex in a very sad state. Restoration has brought her back to how she would have been in WW2. Complete with Middi engines, sails and several artifacts of that time.
We have several Uffa Fox designs, including Prince Philips Coweslip. All the boats in the exhibition are in a seaworthy condition and are sailed or driven as often as possible. Some are available for special occasions. Pleasew visit out website at http://www.classicboatmuseum.org

By: Phil Smith

Phil Smith — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 08:19:04 +0000

Hi to Keith White, I owned an Uffa Fox airborne lifeboat in the eighties and have a good picture of it in New Zealand. If he emails me I can send a photo or two of it.
Phil Smith

By: Gavin Atkin

Gavin Atkin — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 08:00:08 +0000

The Wikimedia Commons has the small one above, but if you use it you must include a credit for the source.

Otherwise, I’d try the museums, perhaps starting with the boat museum at Cowes on the Isle of Wight.

Gavin

By: Keith White

Keith White — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 18:12:03 +0000

Hello,
I’m a Brit living in the US. I am preparing a DVD, mostly still images, of my local boatyard. One segment will describe an elderly man who lived in the yard in one of these Uffa Fox airborne air sea rescue boats. The boat was alleged to have been sailed here from England on two occasions.
I would like to have a digital image of one of the boats to include in my DVD. If you have one, or know where I could get one, would you email me a copy, or give me directions to a source?

Thank you
Keith White

By: jeff cole

jeff cole — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 01:10:57 +0000

My wife’s uncle was in Air-sea Rescue after damaging his ears in fighters in WW2. I remember him talking about trials in the Thames estuary but at the time Uffa’s name didn’t come up. In 1956, at the Melbourne Olympics, as a Sea Scout, I believe I was introduced to him on the officials boat, the detroyer Warramunga. I was only 13 and ‘working’ at the Olympics as a message runner before portable radio’s and mobiles.