YouTube Head Scratcher Sailing Again!

I mentioned that Mike Scott from the Pacific Northwest had been on a roll recently in acquiring Classic International 14's - see the previous post on the Souter Casson Mk 1. He also bought the YouTube Head Scratcher, the 1980's Ames 2 wood hull that was finished off with a 1960's interior by my good buddy, Bill Moss. The Ames 2 had remained a kit boat for many years, the hull was all in one piece but the rest was a bunch of pieces, mast, boom, sails, fittings, daggerboard, rudder. Mike had the kit and caboodle shipped out west from Vermont , received the lot in June and by the end of July had this unusual bit of 14 history in the water and sailing. Truly a beautiful one-of-a-kind. I've taken the photo from Mike's Facebook page.

Mike has been doing a yeoman's job in finding Classic 14's scattered about the Pacific Northwest. I'll have to put up a post about some of the 14's he has located.

Chris Benedict with his Mk1's under construction

Mark Adams sends along a photo of Chris Benedict with his original Mk 1's under construction, circa 1978 (cold-molded out of Western red cedar). Of all the American designers of International 14's of my generation, Chris was the one who made it big (at least big in terms of I-14's). He garnered a large share of the new British market with his popular Mk IV, even moving to England to be close to the dinghy action. He also developed a junior trainer, the 404 for a English builder (maybe Ovington, I can't remember).

Chris was out of San Francisco and made his name initially as an excellent boatbuilder, working for the firm Sailnetics that produced top quality Fireballs and Kirby MkIV's in glass composite. One of the legends in the class; sadly, mostly unknown to the larger sailracing community.