Update on the project

Young people learning on Huff and the Heritage Lottery

EISCA is an educational charity therefore it has tied in the restoration project to an NVQ2 apprenticeship in boat building. Two deserving young men have passed a lengthy selection in order to achieve this placement based at Mashfords Boatyard, Cremyll, where Huff lays. The Falmouth Marine School provides the technical side of the course through its capable assessors whilst the practical side will focus on the restoration of the Huff. Prior to tackling the project, the two apprentices will follow a learning curve in basic boatbuilding whilst working on other vessels part of the EISCA collection.

An application to the Heritage Lottery Fund is under process for a small grant scheme called “Your Heritage”. The project is in great need for funds in order to cover the materials, professional services and equipment necessary for the successful completion of the restoration. Part of this application is dedicated to teach the public  about Huff, Uffa Fox and  their relevance within British maritime history. The project has not yet started due to the timings needed to process the application.

Participation of the public to the project

Part of the participation aspect of the project will involve an exhibition entitled “Huff of Arklow, Uffa Fox and the development of yacht design”. Th exhibition will take place this summer for six weeks in the splendid surroundings of the Mt.Edgecumber country park. The Plymouth&Caradon council have kindly donated the historical outbuilding within the English Gardens for the exhibition which will feature:

·         a photographic timeline of Huff of Arklow, from stills of the original film of her build in 1951 which shows the advanced  techniques used  at the time and up to the present days.

·         The audio record of the original logs winners of the Faulkner Cup twice, in 1960 and 1962, kindly donated by the Irish Cruising Club.

·         A fully scaled model of the original Huff of Arklow beautifully crafted by model maker J.Jefford,MBE and kindly donated to EISCA for the exhibition.

·         A lovingly restored International 14’ dinghy designed and built by Uffa Fox and part of the EISCA collection which will sit in the central part of the gardens.

·         A photographic presentation kindly donated by Rosemary Joy of the Classic Boat Museum in Cowes.

·         An audio record of the article written by the late Uffa’s nephew Murray Dixon and kindly donated by his widow, Jeannette. This is an account of the drive down to Plymouth with Uffa for the Prince of Wales Cup regatta in 1929, when Prince Philip was due to arrive at the same time.

On the second week of September the exhibition will take place of honour at the newly refurbished historical site of the Royal William Yard in Stonehouse. The exhibition will be part of the cultural activities within the Marine City Festival organised by the Plymouth council.

Next step for the trainees

Whilst the heritage lottery application is under process, the two apprentices are working and learning on other vessels part of the EISCA collection. This includes the famous 22 square metre Vigilant, designed and built by Uffa Fox in 1930. The two trainees have carried out a caring work on this traditional vessel and reproduced detailed features to match a historical boat of this type. Further to this stage, the apprentices will travel to Harker’s Boatyard in Essex, in order to take part to the National Historic Ships UK project called “Keep History Afloat”:a detailed programme devised by National Historic Ships UK in co-operation  with Harker’s Yard and the Waterways Trust.  The two Huff’s trainees will be exposed to a different training establishment greatly focused on learning the methodology applied to the preservation of historical vessels. This is a unique opportunity for the two young men to open their minds to a new vision which will shape their future careers and their overall way of looking at our maritime heritage.

On their return the two trainees will receive practical sail training lessons from EISCA staff on the charity’s sailing boats they worke don this spring which are part of Cremyll Keelboats, a branch of EISCA. This will follow up from their placement in Essex where they would have sailed the traditional Schillinger “Pioneer” restored in 2000 and a great example of preservation of a historic vessel. EISCA hope to be able to start the Huff of Arklow restoration project at the end on July and to complete it by March 2014.

For more information please contact the charity at office@eisca.org.uk