"On The Plane" Several Photos

"On the Plane" was the name of the U.S. International 14 newsletter in the 1960's (the name would be changed to "Planing On" in the 1970's).  Probably due to production costs in the 1960's, OTP (On the Plane) was limited to one photo per issue; on the first page, just inside the cover. Here are the scans of the photos, with the accompanying captions, from the issues I have in my possession.

OTP Jan 1966: Start of a the 1964 National Regatta, California

OTP April 1967: The British who have won the last two International Team Races

OTP August 1966: Don McVittie, The National Regatta on Puget Sound

OTP June 1967: Stuart Walker and Lev Huntington in Bermuda. US 800, "Daring", was a Souter design.

OTP May 1966: Stuart Walker and Lev Huntington, Winner of the 1966 Yachting One-of-a-Kind with five firsts.

OTP November 1966: From Left to Right: Lee Veneklassen in his own design, Bob Curry in a Proctor VII or VIII, Tom Eakins in a Souter Casson, Van de Verg in a Schock, Ben Green in his Marscot "Greene", and Roger Welsh in "14 Karat".

OTP November 1967: Stuart Walker vs K899

OTP Sept 1967: Ian Bruce winning the POW in Tief UP

1981 Team Races and World Championship

I haven't posted too much about my own International 14 experiences. I expect to do more of that in the future but, in the meantine, I've posted about my racing in the 1981 Annapolis International Team Races and World Championships over here at the Earwigoagin blog.

Tom Price Illustration

Tom Price was one of the top Int 14 sailors out of Annapolis during the 70's and 80's. Tom also illustrates Stuart Walker's sailboat racing books. (I proudly have a pencil drawing of Tom's showing a gaff schooner entering South River.)

Here's Tom's illustration of him sailing his McCutcheon 14.

"Windrustler" winning "Old Boats Prize" at POW, Hastings, sailed by Tom Price, Louis Phillips from Annapolis, Md. Super Casson III design, McCutcheon built originally for Jeremy Pudney.

John Power; Stories from Saratoga

John Power sends me this interesting sea (actually lake) story filled with Int. 14 (and Firefly) lore from Saratoga Lake;

I actually have had just a little experience sailing 14s, I am perhaps one generation too late. But I have always been keenly interested in the older boats (the modern 14s which while impressive in their own right, are a bit too pricey and high tech for me)

When I was younger, I learned how to sail at Regatta Point Community Sailing in Worcester, Ma (a sister school to the famed Community Boating in Boston) The fellow that taught me to sail was a great guy named Allan Fearn. Al actually won the Firefly National Championships one year on Saratoga Lake, beating none other than Stuart Walker. The story among the old time Firefly/Jet14/I14 crowd at the club is that the chapter in Walker's Tactics book relating to wind around land masses on inland lakes is about the big hill on the east side of Saratoga Lake, and comes from this regatta specifically. I don't know that it is 100% true, but its a cool story and could be very probable.

Anyhow, I was a pretty large kid when I was a teen. Most of the kids at the lake were buying their own Lasers and Force Fives...AL talked me into buying an old Fairey Marine FIREFLY #2828 and thats how I got hooked. (Incidentally, 2828 was built in 1963 and I was built in 1965!) During college I did not sail much, but I had seen my first Thistle.....I have now owned 4, until recently, graduating, or perhaps stepping down to a J28 Cruiser. At my first Thistle Nationals in 89, I met Bill and we got talking about old 14s and he ended up owning my old Firefly. A few years later, I was laid off from my teaching job in CT and ended up teaching for a while up near Saratoga, meeting the old 14 crowd etc. So that is my connection and keen interest in these cool old boats.

About 10 years ago, there were a few of the old 14 fleet that wanted to start a classic 14 group on the lake. At that time John Carcich had mailed (pre email!) the folks at Saratoga to see if anyone wanted 970.(I almost bought 970 then, but I knew the boat meant a lot to Bill since he had raced against it and John Carcich when he was younger, so I passed on buying it and he bought if from Carcich). Later Bill came across and rescued the D&M while at a thistle regatta in FL. Unfortunately one of the jump starters of the classic 14 fleet shortly became ill with Alzheimer's and the movement fizzled. Bill has been making noises about selling his boats for several years and I think he is now at the point he might sell them.

There are a few 14s left up in the area and I think they could be persuaded to sail a few times each season...I would be very interested in that, and perhaps going to a classic regatta or two should I be able to find a seaworthy boat. The only 14s that i have sailed was an old Fairy MK6 and plastic PSI Proctor 7 i think? Both were single trap boats with big genoas and chutes -GREAT FUN in some breeze!

There is a fellow named JOHN BOOTH who has 3 boats at the moment, the two I sailed and a Proctor Hull that I think won the P.O W cup, the boats name is ARIADNE - Bill would know the exact details about this boat, and could fill you in on the history. I m sure there are a few other boats lurking in the area, there used to be a couple fiberglass ones that sailed on the lake on occasion.

YouTube Head Scratcher?

John Power from Saratoga Lake sent a nice email (several actually). I'll devote another post to his 14 stories. John did give me a link to a YouTube video of a bare, varnished 14 hull and asked;

"Wondered if you had seen this? The locals up at Saratoga think this is one that was built by JOHN SCARANO (google Scarno boats and check out the scarano 21 and 22)"

Indeed the video does show a very pretty International 14 hull, a Classic but with modern lines.........



Well John, talk about six degrees of separation. There are probably five or so people who know what hull this is and I'm one of them.... all the parties involved are very good friends of mine. (As you probably guessed by now, this isn't a Scarano design.)

This is a Bob Ames Mk2 hull (Bob is the designer of the Vanguard 15). Three were built by Ovington Boatbuilders in Northern England in the mid 80's; two were double bottom glass hulls, and one was wood with a cold molded bottom and ply sides. The wood one was a bare shell, owned by Bill Moss, who proceeded to install a seat tank layout, even though the class in the mid-80's had gone double trapeze with assymetric spinnakers. Bill, being a bachelor, did all the boatbuilding in his living room and it took a while. When he had completed the hull, Bill realized he now had a 14 that was not competitive, so the 14 remained as a living room centerpiece for many years. Bill eventually sold the 14 hull and all the parts to a fellow in Vermont. Bob, Bill, and I had dinner with the fellow when he arrived to take the hull North. No idea if this hull ever got completed to a sailing stage.

How do I absolutely know this is the Bill Moss Ames 2? Bill built the tripod out of phenolic tube, the only 14 that I know had a phenolic tube tripod instead of aluminum.

Stuart Walker History Part 2

Part 2 of Stuart Walkers 1962 article on the history of International 14's.

(Again, click on the top right arrow icon to get a window to read the article.)

Stuart Walker History Article Part 1

In April 1962, Annapolitan Stuart Walker, famous sailboat racer and sailing writer/book author, wrote a two part series on International 14 history for the One-Design and Offshore Yachtsman magazine (now Sailing World). I saw Stuart Walker two weeks ago (now in his mid 80's) accepting the 2011 Soling fleet championship award at Severn Sailing Association.

Here is Part 1 (Click on the arrow-in-a-box icon on the top right corner of the article to open in another window to facilitate reading) :

Another pre-WWII 14

When it rains it pours........

John Kutz from Kirkland Washington sends pics of another pre-World War II Uffa International 14 that he is now in the process of donating to the Center for Wooden Boats. Has the bazillion steamed ribs and the cross planked construction, which I assumed to be early Sandy Douglass construction that copied Uffa (turns out I was wrong, see below). John has no record of the number assigned to this International 14.

UPDATE: After seeing this post, Stephen Smith sent me an email and correctly points out that this 14 IS NOT an Uffa design. Stephen writes;

"Take a look at the shape of the transom. See how rounded the bottom is right down to the centerline. I doubt very much this is an Uffa Fox design, it looks much more like a Morgan Giles design or other from the very late 1920's or early-to-mid 1930's. The Canadians were also building sloop-rigged boats by then, but I think they were clinker-built, so this can't be one of those. It is FOR SURE not a Douglas boat built to Alarm's lines. The bottom is much deeper and rounder. No planing surface on the back. The interior arrangement is also more typical of the Brit's in the early 1930's - not at all like a Douglas boat -- although of course someone could have changed all the interior layout. But the transom shape is a real give-away.

The other Carvel-boat US112 shown from Nov. 11 on the blog is, for sure, one of Douglas' early boats, before he started hot-molding them."

Hmmm..... I wonder what design we have here?

Some pictures;

Two Classic 14's in the Marketplace

Got this email from Bill Barringer;

"I too started sailing International 14s at 13 in 1962.  I currently have two and am looking for a home for them.  One is US970, John Carcich's McCutcheon Kirby V, and  US226, a D&M Int 14 One Design.  US226 is almost complete and original.  (Wood lead centerboard a la a Thistle.) "

If you have some interest, contact me to get Bill's email address (Go here and click on my email contact information.) Hopefully he will send some pictures along.

I have some stories to tell about John but I'll save it for another post.

Two Pictures; US 116 and Sailing in Annapolis Harbor

Two pictures (click inside any picture for slideshow); The first picture Mark Woodard found on the Internet. US 116 is presumed to be a hot molded Sandy Douglass/Uffa Fox Alarm hull.

A picture in Annapolis Harbor. Looks to be frostbite sailing back when there were no drysuits or wetsuits. Skipper and crew unknown. Hull design unknown. Looks to be in the early 1960's.

Pics of US 112

All pictures by Mark Woodard. Click in one of the pictures to start a slideshow.

US 112 in Mukilteo Washington

Mark Woodard writes;

I bought #112 a little over a year ago and set out to maker 'er sail again. The boat was largely complete, but was in pretty worn shape. It was a basket, a double-planked hull with "oiled silk (think umbrella) between the layers to give it an hint of being water tight. She was a basket. When I grabbed hold of the transom and gave it a jerk you could see the entire boat flex this way and that.

I soon realized that to "restore" the boat to using its original construction methods - 7,500+ copper clinched nails into 83 steam-bend ribs - could never be accomplished in my life time. So, I decided "rebuild" the boat using West System epoxy and turn it into a practical, sailable boat for 1-2 people. BLAPHOMEY (sp?)! When I first broached the approach on a wooden boat blog I thought they'd hunt me down and crucify me!

Please feel free to use my photos. I'd love to know who built my boat and when. I suspect that it might have been built by Sandy Douglass before the much more cost-effective hot-molding process came along, but I can't be sure. Two distinguishing features on my boat: The next to the closest plank next to the rail was (and is) a contrasting, darker color. Also, the sail insignia doesn't have a straight line under the 14, it's more of a mushed "caret" - a shallow "V". Any and all information on the origins of "Maureen" - my departed Grandmother - would be greatly appreciated.

My reply;

I looked in my archives. US119 was built in 1940 by Sandy Douglas and was listed as a Uffa One Design (this was the Alarm hull design that would become the basis of the Jet 14 class). I would think your hull is close in age to those dates.

The latest Woodenboat has a continuing series on Uffa Fox. I didn't realize that Sandy Douglass beat Uffa to hot moulding hulls. Sandy Douglass wrote an autobiography "Sixty years before the mast". I haven't read it but I did check Wikipedia which has Sandy getting into boatbuilding in 1938. Int 14 US 112 was built in the pre-war Uffa Fox method, diagonal planking sandwiching a waterproof fabric inner layer so if you have a Sandy Douglass boat, it was one of the early ones that Sandy built.

The assumption is that Sandy used Uffa's building methods until he was able to utilize the WWII developed hot moulding techniques. I think there are probably some people out there that know Sandy's history better than I. I wonder where Sandy's archival history went?

"ODandOY" Class Directory

Back in the 60's, the North American sailing magazine "One Design and Offshore Yachtsman" (precursor to what is now "Sailing World") would run a class directory in one of it's winter issues. Here is the piece on the International 14 from 1964. Click on image for a larger view.........

Oldie on the West Coast

Received this note from a fellow out on the other coast;

"......I recently was given an old I-14 to restore and I'm trying to track down its history. My guess is that its a west coast boat since it was sailed in Seattle in the 60s and 70s................... It has the hot molded hull...........".

I'll check my archives to see if I can dig up some more information.

Canada Science and Technology Museum Article

An article featuring International 14 KC1 at Canada Science and Technology Museum .

Note from Steven Smith about Douglas and McLeod Int. 14's

Received this note from Steven Smith of California, who is looking for a Douglas and McLeod International 14 to restore.

"I've been trying to research the Fourteens of the 1940's and 1950's, those my Dad refers to as the Douglass one-design 14. I would just love to find one of Douglass' molded plywood 14's to restore and sail.

I grew up sailing the Thistle, crewing with my Dad starting at age 8. I sailed with him until I finished college and my sister took over my spot on the boat. We did plenty of restoration work on the old woodie Thistle, of course also built by D&M, including new rails and re-fitting the centerboard trunk. Its still one of the fastest Thistles around. Now at age 54, I find myself back in the middle spot on the Thistle again. I love the way the boat sails, but for my own boat, I can't muster a crew of 3, and the Thistle is just a tad too big and heavy to fit in my side yard.

So, my mind wanders to how wonderful it would be to have one of the old molded plywood 14's, perfect for me and my wife in light to medium air, and with a big friend in heavier wind. In a perfect world there would be enough of these beautiful old boats around to race each other, but I would be content with just the delight of an afternoon sail. Actually, I suspect the local Thistle fleet would be happy to have me race with them.

As I understand, D&M made 175 molded-hull 14's (?). They are no doubt mostly rotting under canvas tarps in barns -what a shame. I'll bring one back to life if I can find one. Do you have any ideas at all on where one could be found? How to even look? The current class seems so far removed from those boats that they hardly seem aware of them, and certainly don't appreciate them. What they call a 'classic' is still a modern fire-breathing beast compared to the non-trapeze boats. The vintage wood boat movement in the UK seems to do better, but of course they would not
have any of Douglass' boats.

Also, there is a book from England that is referenced but I can't find a hard copy, T.J. Vaughan's "History of the Fourteens, 1923-2003" or something like that. Any chance you might know where or how to get a copy of the book? The text is online, but apparently the book has pictures, drawings, figures.

I'm on the west coast, San Jose, CA. but I wouldn't mind traveling east if I needed to find a boat. Anyone local in the west you know of with a classic that I could meet and chat with?

Any help or suggestions you may have would be appreciated."

If you can help Steve, leave a comment to this post, or email me at the address found over in the "About Me" section