The Boats
Hirondelle, the brainchild of her designer Chris Hammond, was originally considered a family weekender with full length sleeping berths for 5 adults, generous cooking facilities and a small but useful bathroom. As far as we can tell a bath has never been fitted, unless you know different!
The cockpit has room for all to sit in relative comfort. I don't think Chris had in mind, some of the uses the boats have been put to over the years when he was pondering her design! Apart from the weekend coast hopping and fishing trips for the boys, many boats have carried out longer open sea passages, sometimes on a two to three week family holiday even with the kitchen sink aboard! Some have cruised through the French canal system and into the Med and beyond. Others have made it as far north as Finland, Canada and through the USA into the Caribbean.
Many owners have had their boats in excess of 10 years and are still putting many happy miles beneath their keels. There are a few well equipped examples with fully operational radar, computerised navigation centres, refrigerators, freezers, davits with dinghy's, wheel steering, autopilots and the long list goes on! "All this in a boat of 7 by 3 metres," I hear you say "that's hard to believe". Yes but oh so true!
She had a few race winnings to her name, these were mainly won by the Mk I's, and as far as we are aware all the above has and is carried out in relative safety, few of the boats have been lost while under way. This is a tribute not only to their skipper's skills but in a big way to Chris Hammond who obviously designed a purposeful, practical and safe boat for the builders to manufacture. We owe our thanks to the designer and builders of our gallant little craft.
The Models
Click on a link below for further information.
Hirondelle Mk I
The original Hirondelle, Mk I, in its day was ahead of any competition and was indeed a direct threat to many of the smaller monohull yachts.
...more on the Hirondelle Mk I
Hirondelle Mk II
The important difference between the Hirondelle Mk I and II was in the rig; being a little under a metre shorter but still with sufficient canvas...
...more on the Hirondelle Mk II
Hirondelle Mk III
The Hirondelle Mk III boat brought more changes over the previous 2 Mk's, the main one being the keels - no more lifting dagger and rudder boards.
...more on the Hirondelle Mk III
Hirondelle Family
The Hirondelle Family was born as a result of a Hirondelle Mk III owner holding the original design in such high esteem, he took the moulds of the Mk III...