Thursday, July 25, 2013

1927 Long Island International 14's

I asked Stuart Walker what attracted him to the International 14 class in the first place. He replied that, when cruising with his Dad in his Q-boat, pre WWII, he remembered the beautiful varnished 14 fleet on the dinghy docks of Larchmont Y.C.. According to Stuart, the 14's were club boats, members could call ahead and the 14 would be rigged and sitting in the water when they arrived for a small boat sail.

This was news to me as there was no Larchmont fleet in the 1960's. It turns out, after some research, that northern Long Island shore imported four International 14's from England in 1927, the first of the English type, long before George Ford and the Rochester crowd in 1935 brought over the Uffa Fox R.I.P. Yachting magazine in 1927 mentions four Morgan Giles designs being brought over. William Atkins mentions that in 1928, the Huntington Y.C. on the north shore of Long Island had two English 14's, a Morgan Giles design and an Uffa Fox design. This is an interesting piece of 14 history and ties in with the famous 1933 Seawanhaka Y.C. team races that brought over a team of English 14's and started the International 14 class in North America.

Some pictures from the 1927 issues of Yachting magazine:







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3 comments:

  1. AnonymousJuly 27, 2013 at 3:56 PM

    HI,
    These Morgan Giles boats may also explain the presence of that old boat that surfaced in Seattle a couple of years ago, which you posted pictures and discussed.

    BTW, I did buy the old US One Design 14, US 266, from Bill Barringer in Albany, NY. Its in San Jose, CA area now. and not in as good a shape as I hoped. Will get restored over the next few years, I'll send pictures as I go.
    Steve.

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    Replies
    1. AnonymousJuly 28, 2013 at 11:23 PM

      I am getting US970 from Bill Barringer soon (john carcich old boat) a McCutcheon built Kirby 5. I will send pics along as well.

      Time for a classic event?

      Interstingly, after the recent post to the blog. I am teaching sailing on LIS not far from Larchmont. I plan on bringing the boat down to show the juniors at my club. Some of my instructors know Bruce Kirby...mabye I can re unite him with his creation...

      JP

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    2. old14erAugust 2, 2013 at 1:02 PM

      Good point. There does seem to be some similarity between the two. That would make the Seattle 14 the oldest I-14 relative in North America (not sure you can call the Morgan Giles an I-14, there were National 14's in England at that time).

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