A racing canoe’s long thin hull minimises drag, allowing it to travel at high speeds but, being narrow, great agility and strength is required by the crew to prevent capsizing.
A sliding seat allows the helmsman to sit out and balance the pressure of the wind on the sails, which at 10 square metres deliver a great deal of driving force.
Defiant was built by Uffa Fox (1898-1972), one of the greatest small boat designers of the first half of the 20th century. A boatbuilder by trade he began designing in the 1920s and continued until his death. As with all his racing dinghies, Defiant has canadian rock elm ribs overlaid with a double skin of thin planking, the first skin diagonally laid, with a layer of oiled silk covered by the outer planking running fore and aft.
So clever was Defiant’s design that it was virtually unbeatable for the first five years of racing and was still capable of winning trophies 14 years later.
Major trophies won include the Quincy Cup in 1934, 1935, 1939 and 1947; the Royal Canoe Club Sailing Challenge Cup in 1935 and 1947 and the Murphy Howard Cup in 1937.
Dimensions
Length 4.8m
Beam 0.97m
Draft, drop-keel down,1.5m
