The restoration project

Huff of Arklow laid up at Mashfords boatyard, winter 2010

Projects - technical details

 The objective of this restoration is to put Huff back into her original condition as far as it is practicable in respect of the MCA (Maritime Coastguard Agency) code of practice. Her interior is not original and is heavy and quite worn, and her hull is showing signs of becoming tired. Her deck is soft wood on a plywood sub deck and has been increasingly in need of repair over the past few seasons. She has an auxiliary engine situated aft under the companionway. She wasn't designed for an engine and this, plus the batteries and fuel tank, affect her trim.     

She has been under used in recent years which generally causes a buildup of moisture due to lack of airing and this encourages mould and corrosion. Seven years ago she was painted with epoxy paint over a lot of epoxy filler. This is a very hard and non-porous material and once the wood has become wet it has remained so. Her sailing performance has appeared to deteriorate over the last few seasons and perhaps we have never known her as good as she should be simply because she is heavy and too low in the water.

From an historical point of view Huff is an important example of the work of Uffa Fox, and this makes her worthy of preservation. In order to be preserved as a sea going vessel with an improved sailing performance her hull needs to be sound and she needs to be lighter. There is evidence of the hull being fairly wet between the two skins which would increase her weight together with the heavily built furniture.

This project would be a lot poorer without the historical evidence EISCA managed to find out in the form of a rare 8mm film of her original build in Arklow in 1951. This precious film was made by her first owner and kept by his widow. It provides EISCA with the details needed to replicate the accuracy of her original specificaitons.