Colin Archer
Encyclopedia
Colin Archer was a Norwegian naval architect
and shipbuilder
from Larvik
, Norway
. His parents emigrated from Scotland
to Norway in 1825.
Prior to his career as a naval architect in Norway, he spent time in Queensland
, Australia
, with several of his brothers
, including Thomas
. While there, he sailed with a cargo up the Fitzroy River, Queensland "when it was almost if not quite unknown".
He and his shipyard
were known for building durable and safe ship
s. The most notable single ship built by Colin Archer was the Fram
, which participated in expeditions to the North Pole
, and later Roald Amundsen
's historic first expedition to the South Pole
. He also designed a sturdy sailing vessel class for the Redningsselskapet (The Norwegian Lifeboat institution) which was used for many years and now is referred to as a Colin Archer. Fram is now preserved in the Fram Museum on Bygdøy
, Oslo
, Norway. The prototype lifeboat "Colin Archer RS 1" is still afloat and in use as a floating museum. Several other original vessels of the Redningsselskapet are still sailing including the Frithjof Wiese RS40.
Archer spent a lot of time calculating how an efficient hull should be designed. Even to this day, people still consult his work when designing new ships. He is credited with over 200 vessels. The Fram is one example.
Archer's designs were adapted to pleasure sailing in the 20th century. In 1904, Archer built a boat for the writer Robert Erskine Childers
called the Asgard
. This yacht is now in a museum and is considered the "most important yacht in the history of Ireland". In 1928 William Atkin scaled down Archer's 47 feet (14.3 m) Regis Voyager, a pilot boat, to make the 32 feet (9.8 m) Eric. This design went on to become very influential in ocean sailing, with boats such as Vito Dumas
's Lehg II and Robin Knox-Johnston
's Suhaili making notable circumnavigations. In the 1970s, the design was adapted to glass-reinforced plastic
by William Crealock
, and became the Westsail 32
; this famous cruising boat has, in turn, inspired many imitations, so that the "Archer double-ender" style of boat continues to be popular to this day.
, Devon Island
, Nunavut
is named in his honor.
The Colin Archer Memorial Race sailing race is named in his honour. The race starts in Lauwersoog, Netherlands
and finishing near Larvik
in Norway, organised every two years. The distance is about 365 nautical miles (676 km), depending on the weather and the type of ship the sailing time generally amounts to 3 to 5 days.
Naval architecture
Naval architecture is an engineering discipline dealing with the design, construction, maintenance and operation of marine vessels and structures. Naval architecture involves basic and applied research, design, development, design evaluation and calculations during all stages of the life of a...
and shipbuilder
Shipbuilding
Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to before recorded history.Shipbuilding and ship repairs, both...
from Larvik
Larvik
is a city and municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Larvik. Larvik kommune - has about 41 364 inhabitants and covers 530 km2....
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. His parents emigrated from Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
to Norway in 1825.
Prior to his career as a naval architect in Norway, he spent time in Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, with several of his brothers
The Archer brothers
The Archer brothers were among the earliest settlers in Queensland. They were explorers and pastoralists. Seven sons of William Archer, a Scottish timber merchant, they spent varying amounts of time in the colony of New South Wales, mainly in parts of what later became Queensland. A substantial...
, including Thomas
Thomas Archer (pastoralist)
Thomas Archer CMG was a pioneer pastoralist and Agent General for Queensland .-Early life:Archer was the son of William Archer and his wife Julia née Walker and was born in Glasgow, Scotland. When aged three years he was taken to Larvik, Norway, where his parents lived for the rest of their lives...
. While there, he sailed with a cargo up the Fitzroy River, Queensland "when it was almost if not quite unknown".
He and his shipyard
Shipyard
Shipyards and dockyards are places which repair and build ships. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance and basing activities than shipyards, which are sometimes associated more with initial...
were known for building durable and safe ship
Ship
Since the end of the age of sail a ship has been any large buoyant marine vessel. Ships are generally distinguished from boats based on size and cargo or passenger capacity. Ships are used on lakes, seas, and rivers for a variety of activities, such as the transport of people or goods, fishing,...
s. The most notable single ship built by Colin Archer was the Fram
Fram
Fram is a ship that was used in expeditions of the Arctic and Antarctic regions by the Norwegian explorers Fridtjof Nansen, Otto Sverdrup, Oscar Wisting, and Roald Amundsen between 1893 and 1912...
, which participated in expeditions to the North Pole
North Pole
The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is, subject to the caveats explained below, defined as the point in the northern hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface...
, and later Roald Amundsen
Roald Amundsen
Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen was a Norwegian explorer of polar regions. He led the first Antarctic expedition to reach the South Pole between 1910 and 1912 and he was the first person to reach both the North and South Poles. He is also known as the first to traverse the Northwest Passage....
's historic first expedition to the South Pole
South Pole
The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole or Terrestrial South Pole, is one of the two points where the Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on the surface of the Earth and lies on the opposite side of the Earth from the North Pole...
. He also designed a sturdy sailing vessel class for the Redningsselskapet (The Norwegian Lifeboat institution) which was used for many years and now is referred to as a Colin Archer. Fram is now preserved in the Fram Museum on Bygdøy
Bygdøy
Bygdøy or Bygdø is a peninsula on the western side of Oslo, Norway. Administratively, Bygdøy belongs to the borough of Frogner.Bygdøy has several museums, like the Kon-Tiki Museum, which shows all year long the legendary expeditions of Thor Heyerdahl; the Norwegian Museum of Cultural History ; the...
, Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
, Norway. The prototype lifeboat "Colin Archer RS 1" is still afloat and in use as a floating museum. Several other original vessels of the Redningsselskapet are still sailing including the Frithjof Wiese RS40.
Archer spent a lot of time calculating how an efficient hull should be designed. Even to this day, people still consult his work when designing new ships. He is credited with over 200 vessels. The Fram is one example.
Archer's designs were adapted to pleasure sailing in the 20th century. In 1904, Archer built a boat for the writer Robert Erskine Childers
Robert Erskine Childers
Robert Erskine Childers DSC , universally known as Erskine Childers, was the author of the influential novel Riddle of the Sands and an Irish nationalist who smuggled guns to Ireland in his sailing yacht Asgard. He was executed by the authorities of the nascent Irish Free State during the Irish...
called the Asgard
Asgard (yacht)
The Asgard is a yacht, formerly owned by the English-born Irish nationalist, and writer Robert Erskine Childers and his wife Molly Childers. It was bought for £1,000 in 1904 from one of Norway's most famous boat designers, Colin Archer...
. This yacht is now in a museum and is considered the "most important yacht in the history of Ireland". In 1928 William Atkin scaled down Archer's 47 feet (14.3 m) Regis Voyager, a pilot boat, to make the 32 feet (9.8 m) Eric. This design went on to become very influential in ocean sailing, with boats such as Vito Dumas
Vito Dumas
Vito Dumas was an Argentine single-handed sailor.In 1942, while the world was in the depths of World War II, he set out on a single-handed circumnavigation of the Southern Ocean. He left Buenos Aires in June, sailing Lehg II, a 31-foot ketch named for the initials of his mistress...
's Lehg II and Robin Knox-Johnston
Robin Knox-Johnston
Sir William Robert Patrick "Robin" Knox-Johnston, CBE, RD and bar is an English sailor. He was the first man to perform a single-handed non-stop circumnavigation of the globe and was the second winner of the Jules Verne Trophy . For this he was awarded with Blake the ISAF Yachtsman of the Year award...
's Suhaili making notable circumnavigations. In the 1970s, the design was adapted to glass-reinforced plastic
Glass-reinforced plastic
Fiberglass , is a fiber reinforced polymer made of a plastic matrix reinforced by fine fibers of glass. It is also known as GFK ....
by William Crealock
W.I.B. Crealock
William Ion Belton Crealock was a yacht designer and author. He was one of the world's leading yacht designers from the 1960s through the 1990s, and his yachts were owned by the famous and wealthy, including Walter Cronkite and William Hurt.-Early years:Crealock was born in Westcliff-on-Sea,...
, and became the Westsail 32
Westsail 32
The Westsail 32 was a production fiberglass sailboat built between the years of 1971 and 1980. Approximately 830 were built, about half of them in kit form. The "W32", as they are often referred to, was very heavily built and has taken many people on trouble-free voyages and several...
; this famous cruising boat has, in turn, inspired many imitations, so that the "Archer double-ender" style of boat continues to be popular to this day.
Honors
Two rescue ships were named after him; the Colin Archer of 1893 and a later Colin Archer. The Colin Archer PeninsulaColin Archer Peninsula
The Colin Archer Peninsula is located on the northwestern Devon Island, a part of the Qikiqtaaluk Region of the Canadian territory of Nunavut. It stretches eastward into Baffin Bay...
, Devon Island
Devon Island
Devon Island , claimed to be the largest uninhabited island on Earth, is located in Baffin Bay, Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is one of the larger members of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, the second-largest of the Queen Elizabeth Islands, Canada's sixth largest island, and the 27th...
, Nunavut
Nunavut
Nunavut is the largest and newest federal territory of Canada; it was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, though the actual boundaries had been established in 1993...
is named in his honor.
The Colin Archer Memorial Race sailing race is named in his honour. The race starts in Lauwersoog, Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and finishing near Larvik
Larvik
is a city and municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Larvik. Larvik kommune - has about 41 364 inhabitants and covers 530 km2....
in Norway, organised every two years. The distance is about 365 nautical miles (676 km), depending on the weather and the type of ship the sailing time generally amounts to 3 to 5 days.