Albert Strange (1855–1917) was an English artist and yacht designer. He was the headmaster of the Scarborough School of Art. With George Holmes, he was a mainstay of the Humber Yawl Club which developed the use of sailing canoes with a

yawl A yawl is a type of boat. The term has several meanings. It can apply to the rig (or sailplan), to the hull type or to the use which the vessel is put. As a rig, a yawl is a two masted, fore and aft rigged sailing vessel with the mizzen mast ...

rig.

Life and career

Albert Strange was born on 29 June 1855, growing up in

Gravesend Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, situated 21 miles (35 km) east-southeast of Charing Cross (central London) on the Bank (geography), south bank of the River Thames, opposite Tilbury in Essex. Located in the diocese of Roche ...

where he learned to sail with a fisherman who helped him convert a peter boat for cruising around the

Thames Estuary The Thames Estuary is where the River Thames meets the waters of the North Sea, in the south-east of Great Britain. Limits An estuary can be defined according to different criteria (e.g. tidal, geographical, navigational or in terms of salinit ...

. He studied art at the

Slade School of Fine Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...

and the

Leicester College of Arts and Crafts De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) is a public university in the city of Leicester, England. It was established in accordance with the Further and Higher Education Act in 1992 as a degree awarding body. The name De Montfort University was ...

, completing his education in 1878. He then taught art in Liverpool for three years, where he married. Circa 1882, Strange took a job as the headmaster of the new Scarborough School of Art — a position which he held for 35 years until his death on 11 July 1917. He exhibited at the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

, from 1882 to 1897.

Scarborough and the Humber Yawl Club

For some years, Strange was captain of the Humber Yawl Club, (formed in 1883), shortly after his arrival in Scarborough about 50 miles to the north. He produced many designs for boats suited to the club's locale, both for himself and other members. They were light craft which would cope well with being beached on the mud flats of the

Humber Estuary The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Trent, Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms ...

or being shipped abroad as deck cargo, but they had cabins which enabled them to be used for long voyages of a month or so. One of his designs was the 15m

cutter rig A cutter is any of various types of watercraft. The term can refer to the rig (sail plan) of a sailing vessel (but with regional differences in definition), to a governmental enforcement agency vessel (such as a coast guard or border force cutt ...

yacht ''Tally Ho''.

Designs

Strange was one of the first designers to promote light displacement craft, specifically designed for cruising, rather than using designs based on working craft. He was a prolific and sought after designer and designed about 150 boats in all. File:Otter canoe-yacht plans.png, Plans for the ''Otter'', designed in 1898 for a member of the Royal St. Lawrence Yacht Club to sail on the lower

Saint Lawrence Saint Lawrence or Laurence (; 31 December 225 – 10 August 258) was one of the seven deacons of the city of Rome under Pope Sixtus II who were martyred in the Persecution of Christians, persecution of the Christians that the Roman Empire, Rom ...

. File:Otter canoe-yacht sails.png, Sailing rig for the ''Otter'' Albert Strange designed boats which have survived include ''Constance'' (design 45, rebuilt in 2006), ''Sheila'' (design 70, oldest surviving boat in commission), ''Sheila II'' (design 117), and ''Tally Ho'' (design 96, rebuilt 2024)

Albert Strange Association

There is an active Association which has as its mission "to trace, record and, so far as it is within our power, preserve the designs, boats, art works and writings of Albert Strange, and to make a permanent record of his life and work." The Association holds Summer Meets (usually on the UK's East coast) where yachts built to Albert Strange designs meet, and share with others the opportunity to sail these craft. The Association's website contains much further information on his life and the breadth and diversity of his abilities; his success as an artist, yacht designer, raconteur and teacher of pupils across a wide range of ages.

References

External links