The RotorkSea Truck is a flat-hulled, high-speed watercraft, similar to a small landing craft. Made from fibreglass, they may be used to land vehicles without jetties or harbour facilities. They were designed by the design team at Smallfry in the 1970s. [1]
The vehicle was designed by the design team at Smallfry [1] led by designer Tim Fry and Anthony Smallhorn with input from James Dyson while he was a student in the 1970s, as part of his final year's project at the Royal College of Art.
Jeremy Fry was co-designer, along with Dyson, who was working at Rotork at the time. Dyson used the Sea Truck as part of his final year's project at the Royal College of Art. [2]
It happened to be the first engineering project for Dyson of the Dyson company, as he had not even learned welding before. He and Fry built the prototype together. [3]
The craft was manufactured by Rotork Marine in Bath, England. [4] It was a high-speed "flat-hulled fiberglass landing craft that could deliver cargo where no harbor or jetty was available." [5]
According to Wired Magazine and Dyson, it was described as a "Welsh dresser on water," with Dyson saying he learned not to prioritize conventional appearances with his projects, as "what it did, it did rather well." [6]
It was adopted for use by the oil and construction industries, as well as military use, and could carry three tons at 50 miles per hour. [7] In 1973, the Sea Truck was used by the Egyptian army in the Yom Kippur war. [8]
In 1975, Dyson won the Duke of Edinburgh's Special Prize for his work on the Sea Truck. [5]
In 1979, the Sea Truck won the Design Council Award for Engineering Products, [9] [10] and the Series 5 Sea Truck, credited to the Rotork Marine Design team with Tim Fry and Anthony Smallhorn of Smallfry Ltd. as consulting designer won the Prince Philip Designers Prize. [11]
There were five versions of the Sea Truck. Jeremy Fry invented the original Sea Truck and the Mark 2 version. Dyson as a student was involved in the Mark 3. The Mark 5 designed under John Fry by Mike Ross and styled by Tim Fry and Anthony Smallhorn won the design award.
"In my last year at the Royal College of Art, I met Jeremy Fry, chairman of the engineering company Rotork (ROR.L). He invited me to his home for dinner, and that's where it all began. I wanted him to invest in a building I had designed for a theater in London. He said, 'I'm not going to give you any money, but I'll give you a few jobs. Under his wing I worked on my first engineering project, the Sea Truck, a high-speed amphibious landing craft. We built the first prototype together. He pointed me to the welding gear and said, 'Go do it.' I'd never used any welding gear, but I did it. He let me make mistakes and learn things myself. After we finished the prototype, I said, 'Now what?' He said, 'We make it.' And then? 'We sell it.' It was simple as that."