Lines plan
Designer
Ernest Olney Digby
Date1949
Object numberANMS1543[067]
NamePlan
MediumInk on waxed linen
Dimensions790 x 840
ClassificationsMaps, charts and plans
Credit LineAustralian National Maritime Museum Collection purchased with USA Bicentennial Gift funds
DescriptionAn Ernest Digby hull body plans for a small, long keel sailing yacht, with a transom stern.
HistoryDespite being only one the three required three views of the yachts hull, this work is so well drawn, the hull frames and ballast keel could be made full size from it. There is no information about the length of the yacht, which would provide the distance between each of the hull frames as drawn. If the station spacing was for example, 3-feet, the yacht would be a traditional long keel yacht, with a flat transom stern and about 33-feet overall.
Born in 1882 at Port Fairy, Victoria, Ernest Olney Digby came from family of boat builders, sailors and fisherman. His father Joseph designed and built a Couta boat for himself, called ‘ELLISE’ in 1903. Ernest became a boatbuilder/shipwright and later worked as shipwright foreman for the Melbourne Harbour Trust. He studied yacht design from books by Uffa Fox, and Scotsman William Fife, whom he admired, then designed and built boats at home in his spare time. One of his early boats was, INDEPENDENCE which he built in 1932.
Despite having eight children to raise with his wife Mary Anne, and only the wages of a working man, Ernest Digby designed and built DEFIANCE, the first Australian International 8-metre racing yacht in his backyard. A remarkable feat, which took place during the Great Depression when money and work was scarce. Built solely of Australian timber, Ernest Digby selected the best Queensland kauri for the hull planking and built the yacht with the help of three of his sons and a shipwright apprentice called Harry Clark. The International 8mR ‘DEFIANCE’, which is still sailing today, is 14.78 meter overall (48.49-feet) with a beam of 2.27 metre (7.44-feet). Launched in 1935 Ernest Digby owned the yacht for ten years, winning many races, including five Sydney to Hobart races.
His 8mR yacht DEFIANCE was particularly well named, as Ernest defied all class barriers at the time with his new racing yacht. Owning and racing a yacht in the 1930s was a sport only enjoyed by the rich and famous, including royalty. It was unheard of for a working shipwright to build and race such a yacht. He later designed and built a second 8mR in 1946 called FRANCIS named after his wife, Mary Ann Frances.
During his long and active career, Ernest Digby designed and built many fine yachts and commercial vessels. His design drawings are often very detailed, works of art compared to most modern equivalents. He is unquestionably one of the unsung heroes of Australian yacht design, building and racing. His passion and determination to design, build and race yachts is an inspiration which lives on, as many of his sons and family have become successful boat builders and yacht skippers. On receiving a new bicycle as a birthday gift, Ernest Digby was on the way to collect a newspaper when he was struck down by a drunk driver and killed at the age of 78 on November 12th. 1960.SignificanceThe Ernest Digby ‘body plan’ drawing is part of an overall line Plan for the design of a small sailing yacht. The hull stations are all marked in letters, A to J which is unusual, but typical of this designer, and used on many of his other works. It is a small, but well drawn work, by a skilled designer who had detailed insight into the way wooden yachts were built.
