Fairey Atalanta


In the 1950s, together with a variety of designs of dinghies, Fairey Marine Ltd produced larger sailing cruisers, the Atalanta, Titania, and Fulmar, also the 27' Fisherman motor sailer. They also made the 15' Cinderella / Carefree, and the 16'6" Faun.
Between 1956 and 1968 Fairey Marine produced some 291 Atalanta class sailing yachts, designed by Uffa Fox: The Atalanta was conceived in 1955 by Alan Vines, a senior executive at Fairey, with the expertise of Uffa Fox who was their Design Consultant. It was envisaged as a trailable shallow draft performance cruiser with the sea keeping capabilities and safety of a fin keel yacht. Over the succeeding decades the distinctive centre cockpit design with its rolled decks and generous accommodation has more than fulfilled expectations, offering a respectable turn of speed in light airs while her retractable cast iron keels give outstanding heavy weather performance in a seaway. Robust enough to carry its full sail in winds up to force five, the Atalanta retains many of the handling characteristics of a classic dinghy.
Fairey Marine went on to produce three variants of the Atalanta, another 26 ft hull with a slightly shorter cockpit and more headroom called the Titania, a larger version -the Atalanta 31 - and the Fulmar a 20 ft version with a single lifting keel. Small Dinghies were built using similar techniques as tenders for the larger boats.
Production Yachts from Fairey Marine
Dimensions for Atalanta 31
LOA: 31´
Max beam: 8´3"
Freeboard fwd: 4'
Freeboard aft: 2'3"
Draft keels up: 2'
Draft keels down: 7'
Total weight of keels: 2,120lbs for the two
Designed load displacement: 8,000lbs
Sails:
Main: 192ft2,
Genoa: 275ft2
Height of sail plan over sheerline: 37'