Royal Air Force Yacht Club

(A Reprise from the Riverside Review archives 2005 ) 

Dambuster is now owned by Nick Hill and is racing in the Classic Regattas in the South of France - Les Voiles D'Antibes and Voiles de St Tropez.

As the RAF’s first ocean racer, Dambuster’s first season was in 1962 and she competed successfully throughout the 1960s.  She was the reserve yacht for the 1963 British Admiral’s Cup Team and contended in three Fastnets during the 1960s.  Following her racing years, Dambuster was used for expedition training in the early 1970s.   The hull was modified in 1970 to make her easier to steer downwind, by relocating the rudder further aft.

She has been involved in various incidents; of particular note was her sinking off Guernsey in 1975.  Dambuster (reportedly crewed by a team of RAF navigators!) hit the Platte beacon, Little Russel Channel, coming out of St Peter Port.  Although written off by the insurance company, she was salvaged and repaired to sail again.

Dambuster was purchased from the RAF in 1980 by Peter Hill and then sailed to Southern Spain. There she remained in Estepona, where Peter’s father was living, and Gibraltar until she was sailed back to the UK in 1983; en route DB moored on a buoy at St Peter Port where she was greeted by an amazed harbourmaster saying “I thought you was sunk”!  After a complete refit at Hayling Island, she returned to the Hamble in April 1992, to take up her new place on one of the RAFYC’s moorings. But when Diana, Peter’s wife, jumped on to the pontoon ready to tie the boat up, the engine stuck in gear leaving Peter carrying on up the Hamble, warps trailing in the water. Fortunately, with several feet to spare, he managed to avoid numerous expensive yachts on the way.  On his return, he found Diana waiting on their berth accompanied by a group of RAFYC members who were eagerly waiting to help. Luckily, he managed to turn off the engine and moor safely.

The next few years found the Hills cruising around the Solent, West Country, Channel Islands and Brittany, experiencing various exciting incidents and adventures. With a deep draught of eight feet, Peter says Dambuster is always ‘hitting the putty’, especially when they negotiate the sands round Calshot Spit buoy.

One Club Rally to Brixham found Dambuster, with an experienced crew of three on board, setting off in atrocious weather on route to Yarmouth. On the way, they experienced serious rudder trouble going round Calshot Spit and hit the bottom. After limping into Cowes, the rudder was fixed and despite worsening weather conditions, they managed to reach Yarmouth Harbour at 2am. Unfortunately, as they were trying to moor up against another boat, Peter slipped over the guardrails and broke three ribs. Three days later when the weather had improved, Dambuster’s crew headed for Poole, dropped anchor on the other side of Brownsea Island, only to find to their horror that their anchor had taken up a six feet tree trunk and the boat was drifting down river. Several dives later revealed that the anchor and chain were trapped under the keel so the engine couldn’t be started. Short of cutting the anchor free, the only option was to wait for the tide to rise when, after much pushing and shoving, the anchor was finally released. By now, the totally exhausted crew decided to forget joining the Rally and returned to Hamble the next day.

During an extensive refit at Universal in 1997, it was found that a large previous modification to the keel needed replacing; so a chainsaw was taken to the keel and a large lump of fibreglass, approximately 6’ x 3’ was removed from the wooden keel. The rudder had actually been fibre-glassed to the wood keel!  It was duly replaced with proper carpentry.  Throughout this time, countless interested RAFYC members who had sailed on her over the years came to view the work in progress.

In the summer of 1998, Dambuster was dismasted just outside Newtown Creek.  A shroud plate failed and the mast collapsed aft onto the position where Peter normally stands on the helm. Luckily, he had just moved, and no one was hurt.  Having cut away the mast and rigging, they motored into Yarmouth and later motored back on the tide to Hamble for repair.  As the then Commodore of the RAFYC, Peter Hill had to endure several ribald comments later in the bar!  Several months of repairs later found Dambuster ready for further adventures, one of which included her taking part in the Cowes Classic Regatta in August 1999.

Son Nick sailed Dambuster to the Mediterranean in 2000, with Peter and Diana doing the leg from Barbate to Almeria.  She is now kept in the beautiful port of St Jean Cap Ferrat and messages are often left aboard from club members who are visiting the area.   She is due to have a new engine this summer and then may soon be taking part in some local regattas in the South of France.

Although Dambuster is now nearly 45 years old, Diana declares: “She is a beautiful yacht, not easy to handle, but still great fun to sail”. They do admit they sometimes miss not having her moored close to their home in Hamble, but Peter says, “We didn’t enjoy trying to cross a busy river in cold weather, accompanied by a dog, in a rubber dinghy.”

At the same time as they are experiencing miserable British weather in the winter, their yacht is in France basking in the sun surrounded by boats belonging to the rich and famous. But doesn’t she deserve to be there? After all, Dambuster has proved that she is very much of a celebrity herself!

Have you any stories about your boat. If so, we would love to hear from you. Please send them, with some photos by email to ‘ This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ’