Albert Strange


Albert Strange 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 rig.

Early life and education

He was born in 1855, growing up in Gravesend where he learnt to sail with a fisherman who helped him convert a peter boat for cruising around the Thames Estuary. He studied art at the Slade School of Fine Art and the Leicester College of Arts and Crafts, completing his education in 1878. He then taught art in Liverpool for three years, where he married.
Finally, 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. He exhibited at the Royal Academy, from 1882 to 1897.

Scarborough and the Humber Yawl Club

For some years, Strange was captain of the Humber Yawl Club about 50 miles to the south. 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 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.

Designs