Anniversaries in 2022

There is a clutch of special anniversaries coming up this year, not least 50 years since the death of the brilliant yacht designer Uffa Fox, the godfather of planing under sail. Let’s not forget the Argentinian sailor Vito Dumas either who in 1942 – 80 years ago – set off to sail solo around the world, south of the three great capes aboard his 31ft ketch Lehg II. His achievement was largely forgotten in the heat of the war, but he became no less than the first person to do so, long before similar voyages by Sir Francis Chichester and Sir Robin Knox-Johnston.

The most popular cabin yacht of all time – the Nordic Folkboat – reaches the same birthday this year. Another popular boat with a landmark birthday this year is the Mirror dinghy, designed by Jack Holt and Barry Bucknall 60 years ago, in 1962. More than 70,000 have been built in the intervening years. The principality of Monaco will commemorate a century since the death of Prince Albert I, who was a sailor and adventurer as well as a monarch, and The Royal Lymington Yacht Club reaches a century this year.