"GrowlTiger" Souter Kirby 2 For Sale

I've been sitting on this since January (apologize for the delay). From Geoff Wiswell:

"GrowlTiger has all her papers and was built in 1964. A Kirby [sic] Morgan boat. Totally restored with rebuilt aluminum mast, new Spectra trapeze, new main and Jib with a wonderful working roller furler. All new blocks and new traveler. She is a beauty....GrowlTiger is ready to go and also has a blue boat cover. I am looking to sell her at a reasonable price and want her to go to a home where she will be enjoyed.

The photos show a beautifully restored, early Kirby 2 (short foredeck, curved mast thwart) built by Souter in England.

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Update: October, 2020: Geoff Wiswell emails to say that GrowlTiger has been sold to a fellow who has taken her up to the Adirondack lakes.

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.

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.

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