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Atalanta owned by Dominic Dobson. As usual, click on the photo for a larger image
A white-hulled Atalanta and a teal blue-hulled Titania photographed at
the Beale Park Thames Boat show a couple of years ago
Owners of boats made by Fairey Marine have created a new website and forum at http://www.atalantaowners.org.uk.
The Atalanta light displacement drop-keel sailingl cruiser was conceived in 1955 by Alan Vines, a senior executive at Fairey. It was developed with the expertise of Uffa Fox, and made from hot moulded agba veneers using a technology originally developed for wooden aircraft during World War II.
Although the prototype was 24ft long – named Atalanta she is is still sailing the East Coast with the sail number A1 – but by the time the finalised boat went into production, the length had been increased to 26ft in order to improve her accommodation.
The company went on to produce other drop-keel sailing cruisers using the same methods, the Titania, the larger Atalanta 31 and the smaller Fulmar.
Although the hot-moulded agba veneer proved to be strong, light, durable and repairable, the designs eventually became uncompetitive compared with GRP boats, and production ceased in the early 1970s, after some 278 boats of all four types had been built. Today, over 130 continue to be owned by members of the Association.
For a post about some hot- moulded Fairey Marine-built dinghies, click here.
I gather that Atalanta Owners’ patron is ex Fairey director Charles Currey, whose airborne lifeboat converted for racing can be seen here.
Dominic’s Atalanta on Coniston Water shows the benefit of sailing a trailer-sailer
Emma Duck, which I gather belongs to Association member Tom Lawton. Now, is she an Atalanta or a Titania? The teal-blue hull may be a clue – or not!
This is a good article. I have just linked it to the Atalanta Association forum.I have an RRS feed to your blog and find it one of the most informative and enjoyable sites.
The boat "Emma Duck" illustrated above is a Fairey Atalanta, the Titania was made with the same hull, has an extended coachroof, a smaller cockpit and more headroom in the forcabins. Only 12 Titania's were built. For more information visit the atalantaowners.org.uk website. Commodore AOA
We have a Fairey Atlanta A176 “Persephone” for sale. It is in rough condition having sat on a driveway on a trailer for 30 years at Felixstowe. It may be in restorable condition but we are not sure. Any offer will be considered. We do not want to destroy it for cast scrap.
Tel. 07960148158.
The Atalanta Owners Association (AOA) has a new website as of December 2017:
https://atalantaowners.org/
There are a number of Atalantas for sale at very reasonable prices, and the AOA gives new owners full support in restoration matters.
If you are interested in buying a classic, beautiful wooden boat, please see our website.