Herbert Hasler

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Herbert George Hasler
Nickname(s)Blondie
Born(1914-02-27)27 February 1914
Second World War
Awards
Croix de guerre
(France)

Herbert George "Blondie" Hasler,

Second World War, Hasler led a small commando raid against Axis shipping in Bordeaux. He was responsible for many of the concepts which ultimately led to the post-war formation of the Special Boat Service. After the war he became a notable yachtsman, contributing especially to developments in single-handed sailing
.

Early life

Hasler was born in Dublin on 27 February 1914, the youngest son of Lieutenant Arthur Thomas Hasler (a Royal Army Medical Corps quartermaster), and his wife, Annie Georgina (née Andrews). His father died after the troopship Transylvania was torpedoed on 4 May 1917. Hasler was sent to Wellington College, where he was a keen sportsman. He was commissioned into the Royal Marines on 1 September 1932.

Second World War

In 1940, Hasler served as fleet landing officer in

Croix de guerre
.

At the age of 28 in 1942, Major Hasler planned and personally led Operation Frankton, for which he was subsequently awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO).[2] He was also recommended for the Victoria Cross, but was not eligible because his actions were not "in the face of the enemy" as required for that decoration. There are conflicting opinions about the impact of this costly operation on the war effort, but the courage and enterprise of the participants is not in doubt.[3]

In commemoration of Herbert Hasler's efforts in Operation Frankton, the UK Kayak marathon racing series is named 'The Hasler Series'.

Sailing

Hasler is known as the father of single-handed sailing, owing to his invention of the first practical

yachts
: many sailing vessels continue to rely on systems substantially based on Hasler's work.

In 1947 he took part in the Royal Ocean Racing Club Dinard Race – Cowes to Dinard, sailing the yacht Tre-sang, winning his class championship.

In 1960, Hasler competed in the first

Sir Francis Chichester the fourth of the five competitors to enter the race. Of the fifty yachtsmen who sent letters of intent to compete, only five eventually started. Hasler himself sailed one of the smallest boats in the race, his heavily modified Nordic Folkboat Jester
, and finished second in 48 days to Chichester's much larger Gipsy Moth III. Jester was equipped with Hasler's self-steering system. David Lewis sailed Cardinal Vertue – a design of Laurent Giles – to the third place; sea also the book: The Ship Would Not Travel Due West.

Hasler had Jester built some years prior to the first trans-Atlantic race, specifying that a fully enclosed deck, with two circular hatches in the cabin top rather than a conventional cockpit, be built on the standard hull. He used the boat as a floating laboratory to develop his self-steering system, and also pioneered the use of a Chinese-style

junk rig
on a western yacht, to avoid the physical effort and potentially dangerous deck-work, required to handle a conventional rig single-handed. The junk rig allowed all sail handling to be done from the safety of the central control hatch, and Hasler claimed he could sail Jester across the Atlantic without ever leaving the cabin.

Hasler and Jester returned for the 1964 OSTAR, finishing fifth in 37 days, 22 hours. On his return Hasler, who was becoming disenchanted with what he perceived as the race's commercialisation, and the increasing size, complexity and expense of the yachts brought about by sponsorship, sold Jester to

Mike Richey. Richey continued to race the boat until she was lost in an Atlantic storm during the 1988 OSTAR.[4]

See also

References

  1. ^ London Gazette: SUPPLEMENT TO THE LONDON GAZETTE, 26 SEPTEMBER, 1940 (p. 5710) (Hasler mentioned in despatches) Retrieved 19 February 2017
  2. ^ London Gazette: SUPPLEMENT TO THE LONDON GAZETTE 29 JUNE, 1943 (p. 2946) (Hasler Distinguished Service Order) Retrieved 19 February 2017
  3. ^ Neil Tweedie- Cockleshell Heroes: the truth at last 28 October 2010, telegraph.co.uk Retrieved 19 February 2017
  4. ^ Brendan Gallagher- Blondie a lasting hit in one corner of France 11 September 2007, telegraph.co.uk Retrieved 19 February 2017

Sources

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