Lines plan for 35 foot yacht
Designer
Ernest Olney Digby
Date30 June 1952
Object numberANMS1543[075]
NamePlan
MediumInk on tracing paper
Dimensions620 x 740
ClassificationsMaps, charts and plans
Credit LineAustralian National Maritime Museum Collection purchased with USA Bicentennial Gift funds
DescriptionAn Ernest Digby design Hull Lines Plan for 35-foot wooden sailing yacht made on June 30th 1952 when he was 70-year-old.
HistoryDrawn by legendary Australian shipwright and naval architect Ernest Digby on June 30th 1952 this ‘Hull Lines plan’ for a 35-foot sailing yacht indicates well-balanced-lines, with the deck ‘sheer line’ showing the lowest point station ‘G’. This is a traditional sheer line, which together with the long overhangs at the ends, brings out the beauty of the work. To design a fast, beautiful yacht cannot be taught or learned from books alone. The basic technology, processes and mathematical formulas can, but to design a yacht which is ‘fast and bonny’ as William Fife once said, the designer needs to have an artistic eye, practical skills and a good deal of passion.
The late Victorian era produced a number of outstanding yacht designers from around the world; Charles Nicholson, William Fife (III), Nathanael Herreshoff, Starling Burgess, Uffa Fox, Philip Rhodes, and G.L. Watson, to name a few. Australian shipwright and yacht designer Ernest Digby is certainly included in this group, as his design work and yacht building, produced over sixty years, is easily as good as any of the afore mentioned.
Born in 1882 at Port Fairy, Victoria, Ernest Olney Digby came from family of boat builders, and working seamen. His father, fisherman and boat builder Joseph Digby, designed and built a Couta fishing 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 and naval architecture from books and was influence by Uffa Fox, and particularly Scotsman William Fife (III), whom he admired. He designed and built several boats at home in his spare time. One of these 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. Yachts and yacht racing in the 1930’s 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 invariably highly 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 his sons, and grandchildren have become successful boat builders and yacht skippers. On receiving a new bicycle as a birthday gift on November 12th.1960, 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.
SignificanceThe work clearly indicates that despite being 70-years old and having spent most all his life designing building yachts and boats, the passion for yacht design is still evident. The Hull Lines Plan drawing for this 35-foot sloop is a fine work of international quality.
