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= David Hillyard, MBE = David Hillyard, Boat Builder and Designer     1883 - 1965

Introduction

The large number of distinctive wooden yachts built by David Hillyard in the last century was a forerunner of the glass fibre production yacht. With a range of standardized sizes and designs, the development of innovative production line techniques enabled boats to be built quickly.

From the 1920’s to the 1970’s David Hillyard designed and built these yachts at his Shipyard in Littlehampton, West Sussex. It could have been as many as 800 but there are records of around 600 yachts built ranging from 2½ to 29 tons in size.

‘Hillyards’ are not known for their racing abilities, although a few were custom built with larger sail areas and sailing performance in mind. However they are universally known for their seafaring qualities, particularly in heavy weather.

David Hillyard regularly exhibited at the London Boat Shows, (until 1954, combined with The Motor Show) where past, present and prospective future customers would line up to meet him. In 1955 the Duke of Edinburgh made a personal request to meet him in view of their shared interest. David was invited to open the 5th London Boat show at Olympia in the late 1950’s, a recognition of his impact on the boat building industry.

David Hillyard found his Christian faith early as a Mariners Chapel member. Central to his conduct throughout life, he was known as a principled man, down to earth with simple tastes. He had a reputation of being completely honest with his customers, relying on his judgement of character that they would pay in full after completion. There was no written contract but because he never wanted to make more than modest profits his customers repaid his trust and many ordered more than one Hillyard, going up in size as their experience, family and bank balance grew.

David Hillyard, for all his honourable principles was an astute boat builder. He adopted methods considered unconventional by traditional boat builders, never afraid to introduce practices which would save money without compromising strength and safety, one being deck and cabin tops built in a jig and lifted whole on to the hull.

His designs and construction methods, built on by his nephew Dennis Cullingford, have stood the test of time as evidenced by the number of his and Dennis’s yachts which are still afloat and sailing today all over the world. After his death at the age of 80 (still attending the Yard daily until 3 months beforehand) the tributes were many.

Early Life

David Charles Gershom Hillyard was born in 1883 in Rowhedge, Essex, a community linked to the sea because of its association with the heyday of large racing/cruising yachts at the turn of the century. He could have followed his father to sea (David Snr worked on the big yachts) but became a boat building apprentice aged 14. Despite the hard and poorly paid work, David quickly established a reputation as a skilled and fast worker.

Littlehampton

In 1906 David Hillyard moved to Littlehampton, initially for a shipwright’s position at the Littlehampton Motor Boat Co. He set up on his own in an upper storey loft on River Road, backing on the River Arun’s east bank wharves. He established his reputation by building pinnaces (a small boat, typically with sails and/or oars) securing a contract with Gamages in London for 8ft Dinghies. His financial position established, he returned to Rowhedge, to marry his childhood sweetheart, Daisy Scrutton in 1908.

First World War

By 1914 David Hillyard was an established small boat builder, but being so close to France the role of Littlehampton changed radically from a commercial harbour to an embarkation port. He had no shortage of work, his skills in demand by the Admiralty producing mainly 27 foot Montague Whalers and lighters. Needing more space he took on a large shed previously used to dry timber further along the eastern bank. It was next to the Norman Thompson Flight Co. turning out seaplane hulls. When the latter ceased trading it was an opportunity to take over the whole of ‘Fisherman’s Quay’, inheriting staff including boat builder Harry Todman who joined as foreman. The match of their respective skills meant Harry, also an accomplished draftsman, could turn David Hillyard’s commissions and ideas into working drawings of the highest quality, frequently drawn on waxed linen paper. Another design method was to make half models before the working drawings.

Also from the same firm came Tom Jeffers who served as a foreman for many years. David Hillyard kept the core of his workforce from apprentice to retirement. Attitudes to employment and the rights of workers were very different then and everyone was expected to pull their weight, working under harsh conditions. However despite the rivalries between workmen, the resulting teamwork under his command, allowed the Yard to be as productive as it was.

Around 1919 David Hillyard had the opportunity to design and build his first commission for a local vicar and experienced sailor. ‘Jamie’ was the result – a 34 foot ketch of hard chine construction, with an unusual wishbone rig. David Hillyard liked hard-chine (a hull with a hard angle) for its simpler construction than traditional rounded carvel or clinker, plus additional interior volume and he was later to develop this method of building.

Information about yachts built in the 1920’s is sparse, down to a combination of virtually no record keeping, and many boats were not Lloyds registered. Approximately 250 have been identified as built before the Yard numbering came into existence, (which arbitrarily started at 400 after WW2) but it is likely there were more. A number of design features now closely associated with Hilllyards were developed in this period including canoe sterns, centre cockpits, shallow draft and probably the concept of the ‘doghouse’.

During the interwar years more people were finding a route into sailing, either by converting small boats left over from the war, or stepping up from dinghy sailing; a market David Hillyard had long had an interest in. He realised the value of marketing, being one of the earliest builders to exhibit at the forerunner of what became the Boat Show, where he could demonstrate to customers how they could trade up to a boat purpose designed for cruising. A 5 tonner was featured in the 1922 Marine & Small Craft Exhibition and the following year at the Sports and Pastimes Exhibition featuring ‘Beana’ and ‘Twinkler’ (the latter is still sailing today). These gaff rigged 5 and 4 tonners, carvel built pitch pine on oak with transom sterns, attracted much attention, good press and had virtually no competition, the rest being mainly small open boats or launches. By the late 1920’s he was in profit, well established, with a steady stream of customers.

Things were more difficult at the start of the 1930’s - the Depression was affecting business and the Yard was filling up with unsold hulls. At the point of needing to lay off staff, rescue came in the form of a Mr. WJL Watts, who having seen the success of the yacht chartering on the Norfolk Broads, decided he could replicate this on the East Coast. Needing a fleet he visited one weekend and bought all the unsold boats in the Yard ranging from a 22ft cutter named ‘Heron’ to a 35 foot ketch named ‘Missel Thrush’ (The others being Magpie, Linnet, Penguin, Plover and Woodpecker.)  A hardback book called Little Ship Charters was published in 1933 detailing the yachts.

These sales allowed yacht building to continue and in 1936 it was reported the Yard was building twenty yachts ranging from 4 - 18 tons, with plans for four 13 tonners. The largest craft to be launched pre-war was the 1937 ‘Valmara’, a 28 ton gaff rigged ketch, 55 foot in length. When war broke out the order books were healthy, although it was a period of personal tragedy for David Hillyard as his beloved wife passed away in 1937, aged 56. As there were no children, his wife’s sister and family moved from Essex to live with David Hillyard, bringing their two sons. This was how Dennis Cullingford was introduced to the Yard he was to eventually inherit from his uncle.

Second World War

War stopped all private yacht building, and the subsequent war effort increased the workload. Like many other small boat builders, David Hillyard found himself again working for the Admiralty. As demand increased, it required an expanded workforce, and at the height of his wartime operations he was employing around 140 but without increasing the managerial overheads and office staff. The type of craft built changed, with numbers increasing dramatically. Clinker-built small motor launches were built in their dozens, also 45 foot round-bilged liberty boats and 60 foot hard-chine rescue launches.

The largest craft built were the Harbour Defence Motor Launches (HDMLs). With a round bilge design, 72 feet overall, and loaded displacement of 54 tons, the Yard built sixteen of the 486 ordered during the war years. Their double diagonal mahogany construction gave them strong resilient hulls and for the Yard workers, demanded new skills and techniques. In spite of their complexity and size, the Yard completed four in each of the years 1941 - 43, three in 1944, and one in 1945. The other main production line was Landing Craft. The Landing Craft Assault (LCA’s) hulls were crowded into the smaller sheds, with over one hundred built at the yard. Flat bottomed, 41 feet 6 inches long, 10 foot beam, displacing 11 tons but with a very shallow draft they again required new techniques. Although wooden, they had 3/4 inch side armour plate, requiring riveting, along the sides, bullet proof side decks, and steel bulkheads. The workforce also changed– at first reluctant, but with increasing workload, David Hillyard hired women to work on the LCA’s, and they were just as ready as the men to put in a long, hard day's work.

David Hillyard felt it was morally wrong to make his fortune from war so was prepared to undertake war work with minimum profit. The Admiralty tried to ascertain why David Hillyard’s bills were so low, but when they realised it was down to his honesty, his estimates were not queried. His approach earned him an MBE, and in 1946 he was very proud to go to Buckingham Palace to receive this from King George VI.

Post Second World War

Inevitably after the war there was a difficult period as Admiralty orders dried up. There were several pre-war and unfinished boats in the mud berths but no new orders, as the country struggled with the economic consequences of war and a shortage of materials. Orders did not start to materialise until 1949 and then for smaller yachts.

The first standard design was the 6 tonner, (elongated from the earlier 5½) with its innovative centre cockpit (although 3 with an aft cockpit were built)  This design allowed 4 berths in separate cabins and a forward heads, but with an average length of around 27 feet a consequence was a small but deep cockpit. Her relatively diminutive lines did not prevent her from becoming known as a sturdy and safe boat.

This period was when Dennis Cullingford, David’s nephew came into his own. He had started working at the yard aged 16 and returned after war service. By the end of the 1950’s Dennis had taken over the design of the craft built, still with the essential Hillyard elements. In 1954 the first 9 tonner, length 32 foot, was launched. This design with similar lines to the 6 tonner proved to be a winner and over 80 were built - providing 6 berths with standing headroom in cabins, a safe centre cockpit and excellent seaworthiness.

The second most popular was the 36 foot 12 tonner, again redesigned by Dennis Cullingford. Scaled up from the 9 tonner, but with longer overhangs, over 60 were built and those from the 1970’s were fuller in the beam and had a longer bow sheer, increasing the overall length. Most were sloop rigged but some owners chose a ketch rig.

A 4 berth 8 ton, with a chine hull and bilge keels and 30 feet in length was introduced in the early 1960’s. Also during this decade 18 and 22 tonners were designed and built, also of hard chine construction, with a sunken deckhouse saloon and an underdeck passage to the aft cabin – again an innovative feature which would later become popular in larger GRP yachts.

There were also one off designs built to order, including the 29 ton 52 foot ketch ‘Aguila’ built in 1965, designed for long passage making but easy to handle with a crew of two and able to cope with all weathers.

The other well-known design was the hard chine bilge keel 11 ton Ketch, 33 feet in length. This arose from a 9 ton owner wanting more comfortable sailing in retirement, so the new design, as well as having a large cockpit with doghouse, had a powerful diesel engine as standard. The first was launched in 1968 and ten others followed. Notwithstanding the idea behind this class, they again proved to be able sea boats.

As the market for GRP boats developed there was inevitably a time when continuing building wooden boats would no longer be commercially viable. Orders for new boats dried up, despite the full order books in the 1960’s and early 1970’s. In 1990 Dennis Cullingford retired and handed over to his son Simon. Dennis died in April 2010 and he was, like his uncle, well known and respected by Hillyard owners. Dennis’s design influence can still be seen by the more elegant 'cruiser bow' of yachts built after 1969, as distinct from the typically bluff bow appearance of the earlier production yachts.

The 1990’s and Moonfleet 36

In the late 1980’s, a GRP yacht, with a high quality interior wooden specification, was commissioned and designed by Laurent Giles naval architects. The resulting ‘Moonfleet 36’ was exhibited at the 1990 London Boat Show, with a prime site alongside the centre pool. Due to the 1990’s recession further orders were slow to come in, despite her pedigree and classic lines. The moulding company was in financial difficulties so the moulds, owned by David Hillyard Ltd, were brought back to be stored, but subsequently an unexplained fire in the Yard destroyed them. This ended the Moonfleet project (five were built, the last in 1992, but they continue to be sailed in Ireland and elsewhere.)

This marked the end of boatbuilding at the yard after so many decades, although boats continued to be repaired in the yard for a few years more.

Books about David Hillyard and his Boats

Many books have been written about the boats, their owners and voyages (two famous owners and authors were Arthur Ransome https://www.tedevans.net/arthur-ransome and Neville Shute ).

Two have been written about David Hillyard’s history, firstly John Balchin’s The David Hillyard Story published in 2004 but now out of print and more recently Nicholas Gray’s Hillyard: The Man, His Boats, and Their Sailors published in 2021. lodestarbooks.com https://lodestarbooks.com/product/hillyard/