Bruce Kirby Speaks at the Webb Institute

Bruce Kirby covers 12 meter designs, his first International 14 design, the George Owen daysailor his father owned, his latest cruising design for Nat Philbrick and of course the Laser (and the Torch). It's a long talk. over 50 minutes but worth scheduling a sit down in front of the computer.

A Career in Sailing from Webb Institute on Vimeo.

Bill McCutcheon

One of the ironies of the International 14 class in the 1970's and early 19870's was that, for one of the premier performance classes, beautiful varnished cold-molded hulls were still winning the major championships (by that time cored fiberglass had taken over the podiums in classes like the 505 and Flying Dutchman). These wooden 14's were all produced by a quiet craftsman, Bill McCutcheon, from the Isle of Wight in England who singlehandedly churned out dozens of race-winning 14's from the boards of Shelly, Souter, Kirby, Bullock, Rouse; all exquisitely molded from 3 layers of mahogany veneer, with gunwhales of contrasting wood, all pieces carefully hand shaped.

Before Christmas, I received this sad news from good friend Len Parker who was born and raised on the Isle of Wight (now lives in Florida):

From Jamie McCutcheon - "My father William (Bill) McCutcheon passed away peacefully aged 79 on the 11th November 2012 after battling cancer. He was a UK boat builder on the Isle of Wight and introduced the Cherub class dinghy to the UK building and racing the first UK Cherub in 1956. He built many many wooden dinghies Cherubs, International 14's and Moths being the mainstay both for the UK and overseas for over 20 years. He was a quiet man but so proud that a few of his boats he built are still around and being raced in the different classic class's today. "

Len has a good friend, Ray, a boat builder who still lives on the Isle of Wight and has these reminisces of Bil:

"I spoke with Ray about Bill McCutcheon earlier today. No photo's of Bill or his workshop. In fact until we gave him a few photo's of Moth's he'd built , he didn't have any pictures of any of his boat builds. He couldn't stop smiling when he got those photo's and he was thrilled to know that some of his boats are still being sailed.

"Ray remembers going to see Bill when he (Ray) was a young teenager and contemplating what to career to follow when he left school. He asked Bill if he could be his apprentice, but Bill told him that he was too busy to have an apprentice and didn't have the time to teach someone. Ray kept popping back to buy Moth building materials from Bill, who let him have them at a good price, but Bill still wouldn't take on an apprentice. Bill was renowned for gettin , and storing, the very best timber and ply etc from around the world for his boats. He'd often work well into the night in his workshop , with Tilley lamps lit. He always took the time to help Ray out with materials etc.

"Ray mentioned that as well as the I-14s , Cherubs and Shelley Moth's , Bill also built many other models of Moths for private clients, some of whom were top Moth sailers, others were rich wannabe's who had to have the latest go-fast model! Ray said Bill built a couple of Aussie scows, I think for Charlie Reeve(s) or "The Major".  Bill raced Cherubs himself. Not sure if he met his wife Jenny through sailing, but she did sail dinghies ... National 12's I think. Ray actually worked for the same company as Jenny, Westridge Construction for several years, she 'kept the books'.

"Moth's that were exported to the USA were often stacked on top of the local 'milk float' to get across the expensive Solent, as Bill had done a deal with his local milkie to help keep costs down.

"Bill told us that he did a lot of work for Uffa Fox on various boats , but he didn't care for him at all ... partly because he was a snob and partly because he never paid his bills!

"Amongst other boats, Bill also built the worlds first prototype RIBs for Avon, and in the very early days of the Weekender ? Laser, Bill was approached by Bruce Kirby to manufacture them for the UK, but Bill had to decline the offer mainly because he preferred wood over fibreglass, but also because he was so busy at the time. He laughed when he told us this, adding he'd probably have made more money if he had said yes !

 "In summary Ray said that he was a bloody nice bloke , and that his craftsmanship was second to none .... he still wished he'd been his apprentice though."

Tom Price, local Chesapeake Bay 14'er, who was one of the top dogs in Annapolis for many years in his McCutcheon built Souter-Casson design, Windrustler (this was an ex-Jeremy Pudney boat; Jeremy had a new McCutcheon 14 built every year, each one using the name Wind as a precursor) had these recollections of Bill and Bill's 14's:

"I remember when he surprised us all by stopping by SSA on his visit to the USA. A humble, quiet seeming boatbuilder, he was like a God to me and he was probably confused and amused by the enthusiasm and rather awed questions he was met with!  I had become quite intimate with the construction details through all the work I had done on Windrustler and had a million questions about how he built the boats. He was patient but I think bothered by all the fuss and politely declined all invitations to stay, dine and be worshipped.

"I had always intended, when in the UK, to stop by Wooten Bridge on the Isle of Wight and see his Shop but never did. I do still have that oval plastic McCutcheon tag, removed from Windrustler during a varnishing and weight reduction frenzy.

"This summer, Doug Loup and I sailed a McCutcheon built Kirby IV in the NSHOF Wooden boat race in Annapolis.(See this post for more details.) It looked and more importantly, functioned perfectly after 20 years in Doug's garage and more than 40 years of the intense loading imposed by prying down those beautiful "kitchen Knife" shroud levers! A beautiful thing with flawless timber joints, still sound and tight. Bill McCutcheon built these Fourteens without gap filling Epoxy and instead, used an adhesive that relied primarily on perfect fits between parts.

 "I have never felt so bad in a boat as, when sailing Windrustler, I stomped my foot in frustration of the "unfairness" of fluky light air,  and busted open the joint between the keelson and cold molded hull skin, letting in the cold Severn far faster than the bailers could suck it out in the calm conditions. The shame of failing Bill's flawless craftsmanship taught me more about maintaining my cool no matter what frustrations beset me, than any other of my frequent calamities in those early days of Fourteen sailing.

 "I think this applies to Bill and that whole disappearing generation of Craftsmen. We will never see their likes again."

And from Bruce Kirby;

"I never met the man, but as you know, he built many of my IVs and Vs  and what beautiful boats they were. My go-between was always Pudders (ed note: Jeremy Pudney).  I was in Cowes for several days  in 2001 and did not realize Bill might have been there.  Damn shame.  It's amazing how the building of dinghies has changed in the past 50 years. To think that something as boring as fiberglass in its many forms could take over from the beauty of a fine cold molded and varnished vessel. I should talk, as I designed the first fiberglass 14 with my Mk. 1, but then with the II, III, IV and V went to Souter and Bill for those who wanted beauty with their racing."

Ames 2 Woodie For Sale

Just recently got this email from Jamie Leopold;

"I am the fellow from Vermont who bought Bill Moss' wooden Ames 2 I-14. I still have the boat....not much has been done to it. It still needs a better home than I have to offer it. I have lots of 14 stuff to go with it including 3 masts, a couple of centerboards, lots of fittings and more. Any one interested should contact me."

This is the same one I featured in a previous post and video not quite a year ago. Definitely somewhat of a project though it has most of the pieces. And this 14, classic looking though it is, has never touched the water!

I asked Jamie who shot the YouTube video;

"The video was shot by a friend named Tim McKegney, who was looking for a 14......I think Tim came to look at it about 3-4 years ago. Don't know if her ever found one."

Stradivarius Sails Again!

Stradivarius was the name of the International 14 that Bill Moss and I campaigned in 1980 and 1981. It was an McCutcheon built (Isle of Wight) beautifully cold molded in mahogony, a Kirby IV design that Bill bought from West Coast hot shot Steve Toschi, who, if I remember correctly, won a POW in her. US 960 was her number and she was a good craft and, as she had done for all her crews, treated Bill and I well.

I got a call from fellow old 14'er Tom Price that he and Doug Lupe (Stradivarius's current owner) were going to bring her to the light of day after  being garaged for twenty five or so years and race her in a pursuit race for Classic Wooden boats sponsored  by the National Sailing Hall of Fame. Mid-day on a Saturday I was off Trident Point on the U.S. Naval Academy grounds with one of my not-so-fancy cameras to record for posterity the re-splashing of a once top of the line International 14 and now definitely a Classic. Stradivarius sports a full battened main which became class legal in 1982, 1983 time frame but still has the single trapeze and the symmetrical spinnaker which Bill and I raced with.

Tom and Doug were able to win the Dayboat division but not without some tense moments with the 1860's reproduction Sandbagger at the finish.

Three photos of Tom and Doug in the "Strad". The craft in the background of the first photo is the Herreshoff 25 which was competing in the Cruising division.

Coincidentally, that same weekend, Bill invited me and former I-14 World Champion John Gallagher (and wives, girlfriends) over to dinner on Friday night and on Saturday morning, I ran into Jim Biles, who owns the other Classic 14 in Annapolis, another McCutcheon 14, in front of West Marine where we chatted for 15 or so minutes.

Catching up - another US One-Design surfaces

This blog has been dormant for most of the summer. It happens.

I have been receiving some emails and here is one I would like to share (look at the post following this one for a Douglas and McCleod 14 that is up for sale).

Allan Pickman of New Hampshire has picked up a Douglas and McLeod Int. 14 and has posted on the Woodenboat forum about his find. The hull looks very restorable. Unfortunately he is thinking of putting a rig other than the normal International 14 rig into her.

From a photo I lifted from the Woodenboat forum.

Douglas and McLeod 14 up for grabs

I received the following email just last week from Bill Haugen;

"[I] wanted to let you know about my Douglass & McLeod boat with sail US 264, currently located on Tilghman's Island, MD.

The cold-pressed mahogany boat was purchased from the builder as part of a fleet by Dartmouth College about 1945. About 10 years later, a group of physicians in Burlington, Vermont bought the entire fleet from the college who was planning to replace them with new boats.

The first man to launch and board his new vessel stepped though the hull. The result was that the whole fleet was taken to the Shelburne Shipyard in Shelburne, VT, where a thin skin of fiberglass was applied and new gunnels were made for rigidity and sitting comfort.

In 1964 after my high school graduation, I purchased "Whirlaway" from a physician whose daughter I had been dating and with whom I had often sailed the boat over a several year period.

Over the succeeding 48 years, I have maintained and sailed the boat in Burlington, in the Dartmouth area, in the Belgrade Lakes area of Maine, and now in the Chesapeake. Throughout the many restorations I have taken great pleasure in bringing it back to its original glory, the most recent being three years ago. Since then it has taken a beating and again needs attention.

At this point I can no longer take pleasure from the excitement and risk of dinghy sailing and I want to pass the boat along to someone who will continue to love it, sail it, and maintain it."

Bill sends along the following photo.

Looks like a good vintage International 14. Respond through this blog using the profile email and I'll pass it along.

Canadian LSSA 14 foot dinghies from 1914 Yachting Magazine

I came across some old Yachting magazines that Google Books has digitized into the public domain.

From 1914, here is an image of the 14-foot cat-rigged L.S.S.A dinghies racing on Toronto Bay.