The boats in today’s Tuesday Tour of Vintage Boats are mostly from the Michigan area. Will we see them at Port Huron in September?
Meghan and Jeff Rogers own this first Antique Boat designed by famous naval architect and yacht designer John Alden, his X-Class sailboat was first produced in the 1930s by the Fairfield Boat Works in Greenwich, CT – as was Skylark in 1941. Additional information on this 11’5″ x 4’8″ ‘Frostbite dinghy’ was found in WoodenBoat magazine’s online forum. “The X-Class was meant to provide exciting frostbite dinghy racing at a reasonable cost. The class became quite successful, with fleets up and down the Eastern seaboard. This dinghy is a true part of American yachting history. ‘frostbiting’, or winter-time sailing in the 1930s led to intercollegiate dinghy racing, as it’s known today, and was the training ground for many Olympic and America’s Cup sailors.”
A second Antique (built 1919-1942) boat today is Talaria. She is a 26′ Hacker triple built in 1939 with a 1939 Kermuth Sea Wolf engine. Talaria is owned by Steven Alexy and Stephanie Hames.
The next two boats are in the Classic (built 1943-1975) age classification.
This 1963 boat is a Cruisers Inc. 18 ft. Commander model. She is powered with a 75 hp Johnson outboard. This Cruisers Inc. is owned by Thomas and Lois Deptulski.
Sami and Destiny Al Jallad own this 1973 Stephens 47 ft Cabin Cruiser. Her beautiful name is Serenity Now. She is powered with a 1973 Detroit Diesel 671 engine.
An example of a Late Classic (1975 through 25 years ago – now 1993) is:
Built in 1984, this 17 ft. Boston Whaler Super Sport is owned by Dennis and Veronica Mykols. This model was only built for five years, 1984 till 1989. This mostly original example had a makeover in 2017, with all the wood stripped and re-varnished, and hull wet sanded and buffed to a high luster. The Original 1984 Merc “Tower of Power” is in excellent condition, for its age, and runs great.
To close out the Tuesday Tour today, are two boats that were built almost 100 years apart. Above is a Historic (built prior to 1919) boat named Sooo Long. She is 30 feet long! Built in 1918, Sooo Long is a Leyare Launch with a 100 hp engine. She is owned by William and Heather Andersen.
This last boat is in the Contemporary (wooden boat built in the last 25 years) Age Classification. Built in 2015, Whiffenpoof is a 15 ft Canadian Elect. Boat model 15. She is owned by Jane Kemp (Rocky Mountain Classics). Whiffenpoof is a reproduction fantail launch powered by a MinnKota Electric 1 hp motor. It weighs 600 lbs. and can travel 8 hours on a charge.
May we see a picture of your favorite boat for the next Tuesday Tour of Vintage Boats.
- include the boat owner’s name
- year, manufacturer, model of boat, and given name
- tell home port or where picture was taken
- give credit to the photographer if known
In the 2/27/18 article on Tuesday Tour of Vintage boats, the Alden Class X frostbite dinghy #139 is pictured. This is one of the dozen or so dinghies that were owned by members of the Grand Rapids YC back in the 1940s and 50s. Is there a way to contact the owners Jeff and Meghan Rogers? I am in contact with two other owners of Alden Class X dinghies – one in FL who owns one near Gun Lake south of Grand Rapids, and one in New Brunswick Canada who owns one built on the east coast. There are two Class X dinghies in boating museums, one in the Mystic Seaport (Mystic CT) and the other at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic (Halifax Nove scotia Canada). I have corresponded in the past with an owner in the Newport RI area who had a new Class X dinghy built to the Alden design that he keeps and sails on Block Island, off the coast of RI. I used to borrow Class X dinghies for racing on Reeds Lake Grand Rapids MI as part of their regular racing season in the 1950s, so I have personal experience with these boats. All of the GRYC Class X dinghies were built by Fairfield Boat Works (Greenwich CT) in the 1930s? or early 1940s?
John, I just purchased hull #1 yesterday – https://www.proxibid.com/Cars-Vehicles/Boats-Watercrafts/1930-Fairfield-11ft-8-in-Lapstrake-Sailboat-Hull-1/lotInformation/77832652 If there is an owners group, I’d love to join. My boat will live in the NW corner of CT.
Andrew