Stradivarius Gets Out This Summer

Doug Lupe sends along some photos of Stradivarius, his Kirby IV out in this summer of Covid-19. Doug was sailing with his daughters, alternating who got to be the trapeze hand.

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Stradivarius has quite a pedigree. She was the 14 that Steve Toschi and Dave Klipfel used in winning the 1975 POW, the second American to do so. It was the 14 I had my most success in, when I was teamed up with Bill Moss in the early 1980's. It is good to see the old girl, US 960, still going strong. She brings back many memories.

Here's a small, grainy photo of Bill and I taking Stradivarius down a spinnaker reach, probably 1980.

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.

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.

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Stradivarius sailing in the summer of Covid-19.


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.

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.