Naval Architect Colin Archer

Colin Archer was a Norwegian naval architect, born in Norway in 1832. His Scottish parents moved to Norway six years before he was born, and the family settled at the beautiful Tolderodden in Larvik. As a young man, he lived some years in Australia where he built up a big farm together with his brother, James. He returned to Norway in 1861 economically independent, to start his own business as a naval architect and boat builder. Colin Archer became famous for building seaworthy vessels of all kinds. One of the most famous is the polar ship ‘Fram’, which brought the Norwegian explorers Nansen and later Amundsen on their voyages to the Arctic and Antarctic. He is also world famous for his designs of pilot boats and rescue cutters. When Colin Archer died on February, 3rd 1921, he was 89 years old. He had built over 200 ships, 70 yachts, 60 pilot boats, 14 rescue cutters and 72 other vessels.
 

PILOT BOATS
Around the year 1870, a lot of pilot boats were lost at sea. This was the reason why Colin Archer designed a boat that should make piloting more secure. She was called ‘Minnie’. The pilots praised the ship for its manoeuvrability and seaworthiness, but Colin Archer was not satisfied. A year later he built the ‘Thor’. This ship was the prototype for the pilot boats as we know them now. From 1876 Colin Archer built all his ships according to the ‘wave line principle’, the theory developed by the British engineer John Scott Russell. According to this theory there are two kinds of waves when a vessel moves through the water, one at the bow and one at the back of the ship. To reduce the resistance, the ship should be built according to these two types of waves. Although Colin Archer spent a lot of time on building all kinds of vessels, he was never prepared to let go of his principle that the safety and solidity should be the most important matters for building a ship. Buyers could negotiate on price, but never on safety. The fact that quite a few of the boats built by Colin Archer are still sailing, shows that what he said were no hollow phrases. Some of those ships are more than a hundred years old.

YACHTS
Colin Archer is often associated with rescue vessels and pilot boats, but he started with building yachts. In 1867 he built his first yacht, ‘Maggie’, and she was in the Archer family for years. Other known pleasure yachts built by Colin Archer is "Venus" and ‘Storegut’, built for Wilhelm Wolf who won a lot of prizes with the yacht. Colin Archer built 70 yachts in total.
 

THE 'RS1 COLIN ARCHER' RESCUE CUTTER
In 1891 ‘Norsk Selskab til Skibbrudnes Redning, NSSR ("The Norwegian Society for Sea Rescue") was founded. A year later Colin Archer built the first rescue cutter. The result was a double-ender with a continuous deck. The length was 13.95 metres, beam 4.65 metres and draught 2.25 metres. Mainsail, mizzen, staysail, jib and a topsail made a total of 110 sq.metres. This prototype cost NOK 10.900,43, including beer for the workers. At the launch in late July 1893 the ship was called after its designer, Colin Archer. 'RS1 Colin Archer' proved convincingly during her first season and became the prototype for every rescue cutter built in Norway over the next 30 years. After 40 years of loyal service, the prototype was sold. The ship had an impressive record: She had saved 67 ships, 236 people as well as assisting 1522 vessels carrying some 4500 crew.

 
In 1961 ‘RS1 Colin Archer’ was found in America in a terrible condition after many years in private hands. She was brought back to Norway, and became a scout's boat for some years, but was finally acquired in 1972 by the Norwegian Maritime Museum. 1973 the museum concluded a long-term agreement with the Seilskøyteklubben Colin Archer (SSCA). Knut and Gunn von Trepka took over the day-to-day responsibility, and have devoted very much time to operating her as a living museum. The hull of 'RS1 Colin Archer' was comprehensively overhauled in 1977 and the interior was refurbished and restored to its original colours in 1993 with financial support from the Norwegian off-shore company Kværner.

‘RS1 Colin Archer’ ended Winner over All in the Cutty Sark Tall Ships' Race in 1983, leaving 74 ships behind. Also designed by Archer, the ‘RS10 Christiania’ ended second, and the Stephansen/Archer design ‘RS5 Liv’ came third. That this was no coincidence was proved in the next race in 1987, when the ‘RS1 Colin Archer’ again ended Winner over All and ‘RS10 Christiania’ was second best again. In 1993 ‘RS1 Colin Archer’ ended Winner over All for the third time, and also took home the highest price of the Cutty Sark Tall ships' Races, The Cutty Sark Trophy. 
Keeping 'RS1 Colin Archer' in the water preserves for future generations not only the ship, but also the knowledge of how to sail her.

 Tor Erling Gransæther