OD-OY Covers

Back in the archives, I've posted about a Yachting magazine cover that featured International 14's in 1960. The magazine One-Design and Offshore Yachting (now in modern times Sailing World) ran several photos on the International 14's on it's cover back in late 60's and early 70's. Not surprising since Bruce Kirby was an editor at OD-OY. I've posted them below.
  
Cover February 1967: Two International 14's in a big gust during the Canadian Currie Cup.

Ian Bruce

Cover October 1967: Another Currie Cup photo.

Ian Bruce

Cover March 1970: Jeremy Pudney in K-925 during the 1969 Team Racing in Kingston. Pudney would win CORK, the first International 14 trapeze regatta, the week after the English dominated the Team Races. 

Cover November 1971: Dick Rose, in US 850, the captain of the winning U.S. West Coast Team in the 1971 Team Races.

Cover July 1970: Not an International 14 photo but a photo featuring two of the more famous Canadian International 14 sailors. Bruce Kirby with his brother David at the 1966 Star Class World Championship in Kiel, Germany. David Kirby was also a top flight International 14 helmsman with many trophies to his name.

  

"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.

Rare 14's up for auction in the U.K.

Mike Scott sends along this link to a bevy of rare English 14's being auctioned off this June. A bunch of late 1920's, 1930's Uffa bones 14's in this collection

A list from the announcement:

1. Clover - K232 Morgan Giles Teak. Stewart Morris's 21st birthday present.
2. Alarm - K347 Very famous boat raced by Stewart Morris.
3. Encore - K847 Kirby 2. Stewart Morris last boat. Has been modernized. Very good condition.
4. Lightning - K290 John Winter's boat.
5. Taiyara - K396 This boat is in First class order
6. Corona - K374 Steep rise of floor. Very good river boat. Pretty good condition.
7. Imp - K170 Very early International 14 which is very similar to Uffa Fox's own Avenger. Imp has been restored to a very high standard by Colin Henwood.

Kirby VII, US-1009: Sadly Now Gone

As a followup to the previous post about US-1009 Summertime, most likely the only Kirby VII built in North America, Eric Arens, the original owner, sends this sad email.

"The person who had Summertime and kept it at Treasure Island found the storage space cost was too large, and he has scrapped the hull but kept the rig.  I just found this out.

"Too bad.  This ending for a boat is like the end of the Fireball "Still Crazy After All These Years," when Kurt Schmidt cut the fiberglass hull that Chris Benedict had built into pieces and put them into a dumpster at the Richmond Yacht Club.  Nobody wanted the boat.

"It is hard to get youngsters into sailing unless it is into highly regimented high school or college sailing.  Computer games have taken over and have the advantages of not getting the participants wet or cold in San Francisco or wet and hot on the Chesapeake.

Eric

To remember US-1009 Summertime here are some more photos of Mark Adams racing in the two trapeze mode (with the old type symmetric spinnaker).

Bruce Kirby Speaks at the Webb Institute

Bruce Kirby covers 12 meter designs, his first International 14 design, the George Owen daysailor his father owned, his latest cruising design for Nat Philbrick and of course the Laser (and the Torch). It's a long talk. over 50 minutes but worth scheduling a sit down in front of the computer.

A Career in Sailing from Webb Institute on Vimeo.

Bill McCutcheon

One of the ironies of the International 14 class in the 1970's and early 19870's was that, for one of the premier performance classes, beautiful varnished cold-molded hulls were still winning the major championships (by that time cored fiberglass had taken over the podiums in classes like the 505 and Flying Dutchman). These wooden 14's were all produced by a quiet craftsman, Bill McCutcheon, from the Isle of Wight in England who singlehandedly churned out dozens of race-winning 14's from the boards of Shelly, Souter, Kirby, Bullock, Rouse; all exquisitely molded from 3 layers of mahogany veneer, with gunwhales of contrasting wood, all pieces carefully hand shaped.

Before Christmas, I received this sad news from good friend Len Parker who was born and raised on the Isle of Wight (now lives in Florida):

From Jamie McCutcheon - "My father William (Bill) McCutcheon passed away peacefully aged 79 on the 11th November 2012 after battling cancer. He was a UK boat builder on the Isle of Wight and introduced the Cherub class dinghy to the UK building and racing the first UK Cherub in 1956. He built many many wooden dinghies Cherubs, International 14's and Moths being the mainstay both for the UK and overseas for over 20 years. He was a quiet man but so proud that a few of his boats he built are still around and being raced in the different classic class's today. "

Len has a good friend, Ray, a boat builder who still lives on the Isle of Wight and has these reminisces of Bil:

"I spoke with Ray about Bill McCutcheon earlier today. No photo's of Bill or his workshop. In fact until we gave him a few photo's of Moth's he'd built , he didn't have any pictures of any of his boat builds. He couldn't stop smiling when he got those photo's and he was thrilled to know that some of his boats are still being sailed.

"Ray remembers going to see Bill when he (Ray) was a young teenager and contemplating what to career to follow when he left school. He asked Bill if he could be his apprentice, but Bill told him that he was too busy to have an apprentice and didn't have the time to teach someone. Ray kept popping back to buy Moth building materials from Bill, who let him have them at a good price, but Bill still wouldn't take on an apprentice. Bill was renowned for gettin , and storing, the very best timber and ply etc from around the world for his boats. He'd often work well into the night in his workshop , with Tilley lamps lit. He always took the time to help Ray out with materials etc.

"Ray mentioned that as well as the I-14s , Cherubs and Shelley Moth's , Bill also built many other models of Moths for private clients, some of whom were top Moth sailers, others were rich wannabe's who had to have the latest go-fast model! Ray said Bill built a couple of Aussie scows, I think for Charlie Reeve(s) or "The Major".  Bill raced Cherubs himself. Not sure if he met his wife Jenny through sailing, but she did sail dinghies ... National 12's I think. Ray actually worked for the same company as Jenny, Westridge Construction for several years, she 'kept the books'.

"Moth's that were exported to the USA were often stacked on top of the local 'milk float' to get across the expensive Solent, as Bill had done a deal with his local milkie to help keep costs down.

"Bill told us that he did a lot of work for Uffa Fox on various boats , but he didn't care for him at all ... partly because he was a snob and partly because he never paid his bills!

"Amongst other boats, Bill also built the worlds first prototype RIBs for Avon, and in the very early days of the Weekender ? Laser, Bill was approached by Bruce Kirby to manufacture them for the UK, but Bill had to decline the offer mainly because he preferred wood over fibreglass, but also because he was so busy at the time. He laughed when he told us this, adding he'd probably have made more money if he had said yes !

 "In summary Ray said that he was a bloody nice bloke , and that his craftsmanship was second to none .... he still wished he'd been his apprentice though."

Tom Price, local Chesapeake Bay 14'er, who was one of the top dogs in Annapolis for many years in his McCutcheon built Souter-Casson design, Windrustler (this was an ex-Jeremy Pudney boat; Jeremy had a new McCutcheon 14 built every year, each one using the name Wind as a precursor) had these recollections of Bill and Bill's 14's:

"I remember when he surprised us all by stopping by SSA on his visit to the USA. A humble, quiet seeming boatbuilder, he was like a God to me and he was probably confused and amused by the enthusiasm and rather awed questions he was met with!  I had become quite intimate with the construction details through all the work I had done on Windrustler and had a million questions about how he built the boats. He was patient but I think bothered by all the fuss and politely declined all invitations to stay, dine and be worshipped.

"I had always intended, when in the UK, to stop by Wooten Bridge on the Isle of Wight and see his Shop but never did. I do still have that oval plastic McCutcheon tag, removed from Windrustler during a varnishing and weight reduction frenzy.

"This summer, Doug Loup and I sailed a McCutcheon built Kirby IV in the NSHOF Wooden boat race in Annapolis.(See this post for more details.) It looked and more importantly, functioned perfectly after 20 years in Doug's garage and more than 40 years of the intense loading imposed by prying down those beautiful "kitchen Knife" shroud levers! A beautiful thing with flawless timber joints, still sound and tight. Bill McCutcheon built these Fourteens without gap filling Epoxy and instead, used an adhesive that relied primarily on perfect fits between parts.

 "I have never felt so bad in a boat as, when sailing Windrustler, I stomped my foot in frustration of the "unfairness" of fluky light air,  and busted open the joint between the keelson and cold molded hull skin, letting in the cold Severn far faster than the bailers could suck it out in the calm conditions. The shame of failing Bill's flawless craftsmanship taught me more about maintaining my cool no matter what frustrations beset me, than any other of my frequent calamities in those early days of Fourteen sailing.

 "I think this applies to Bill and that whole disappearing generation of Craftsmen. We will never see their likes again."

And from Bruce Kirby;

"I never met the man, but as you know, he built many of my IVs and Vs  and what beautiful boats they were. My go-between was always Pudders (ed note: Jeremy Pudney).  I was in Cowes for several days  in 2001 and did not realize Bill might have been there.  Damn shame.  It's amazing how the building of dinghies has changed in the past 50 years. To think that something as boring as fiberglass in its many forms could take over from the beauty of a fine cold molded and varnished vessel. I should talk, as I designed the first fiberglass 14 with my Mk. 1, but then with the II, III, IV and V went to Souter and Bill for those who wanted beauty with their racing."

Bruce Kirby; On Designing his Mk 2

Bruce Kirby continues the story on the history of his 14 designs:

Developing the Kirby 2 (Flame)

"After the Canadians had won the 1961 Team Races (I had competed with the Mk 1. The Team Races were held in Toronto), Ward McKimm had said that if I would do a Mk 2, he would take the first one. Then I got Harry Jemmett of Kingston, my brother David Kirby, cousin-in-law Fred Anfossie from Ottawa and 2-3 others, including myself to sign up for the first batch. The boats were built in fiberglass by Johan Tanzer, located west of Montreal (there was no wood prototype). The first Mk 2's were launched in 1962. Johan Tanzer went on to be successful manufacturer of small cruising boats. The Mk 2 was also built in fiberglass in the U.S by Roger Moorman of Gloucester, Virginia (designer and builder of the Mobjack). Later on, the Mk 2 was also built in wood by Souter. Graeme Hayward had the first of these and it was in a Souter Mk 2 that Stewart Morris won his last of 10 wins in the POW."

Differences between the Mk 2 vs. the Mk 1

"The Mk 2 was not as deep under the mast (rocker), not quite as fine forward at the waterline. and not quite as full above the waterline forward. The Mk 2 was also slightly narrower on the waterline amidships. She would get on a plane earlier than the Mk 1. These were all very slight differences, but they added up to make a better all-round 14. The Mk 2 was very easy to sail to it's top potential."

How did American Roger Moorman come to build the Kirby 2?

"Roger Moorman had a glass layup system that he developed for the Mobjack that used a core material. The system looked good - I can't remember how we got in touch; Roger came to Montreal and taught Hans Tanzer his system and they both built the Mk 2 14's that way. The 14's got 1-2 in the 1962 CDA at Pointe Claire (I was first, Harry Jemmett was second) and that fall, Graeme Hayward asked me to have Souter also build them in wood. Graeme had the first wood Souter Mk 2 and quite a few were built by them. I think 'Pudders' (Jeremy Pudney) had one of them as well."

Picture of Bruce Kirby sailing his MK 1 International 14

Bruce Kirby sent along a photo of him sailing his Mk 1 'Torch' design.

Bruce Kirby, On Designing his Mk 1

In a series of emails and a phone conversation, Bruce Kirby related the story behind his first sailboat design, his International 14 Mk 1:

• In 1957, his friend, Roger Hewson, built a one-off fiberglass International 14 “Imagination” to his own design. (Roger, being an engineer with a degree from McGill, also built his own mast and sails). Before he designed and built his design, Roger and Bruce took the lines off Roger’s 1951 Bourke and Graeme Hayward’s Fairey Marine Mk 7 (Uffa Fox) . Roger developed a crude device to take sections from the hull made of pieces of ¼” ply, about 4” long by 1 ½” wide. These pieces were chained together with short bolts and butterfly nuts and the whole length was draped over the hull,and the nuts were tightened down. The now curved jointed plywood piece with the section shape was taken off the hull and the section shape was drawn on a sheet of plywood, then the lines were scaled down and transferred to paper.
• Roger’s 14 design “Imagination” ran hot and cold. Roger kept recutting his sails. Bruce feels that the Roger’s hull was pretty good; there was just so many different ideas being tried out at the same time that it was difficult to pin down the problems.
• Bruce came back from 1958 World Championship Team Races and POW in Cowes determined to design a faster hull upwind in a breeze. The Canadians were quick in the light stuff (they did win the Team Race that year) but were badly outclassed by the Kiwis (Geoff Smale and Ralph Roberts sailing his modified Windsprite “Atua Hau”) in any breeze over 10 knots.
• Bruce designed the Mk 1 over the winter of 1958-1959. The Mk 1 was built in Lachine, near Montreal by Bob Harris (Bob, an Aussie, was a close friend who designed and built catamarans nearby). Before the first one was finished (Bruce’s own 14), three others had ordered Mk I hulls. One was George Cook, Royal Navy Undersea Demolition Frog Man in World Wat II and also a dinghy designer for a few years after the war, a fine sailor and old friend of Bruce's. Bruce can't recollect the other two, though one was from Pointe Claire Yacht Club near Montreal. Bruce Kirby’s Mk 1 was actually launched in early summer of 1959 and won it’s first race. When Roger Hewson saw the Mk 1 in the flesh he said his ‘Imagination’ design was the thin one and Bruce’s Mk 1 was the fat one. In the Mk 1, Bruce fined up the underwater sections in the bow but still flared the gunwhale shape full up forward to prevent nosediving downwind.
• Compared to the Uffa designs at that time, Bruce feels the Mk 1 was definitely faster upwind and downwind in a breeze but was slower in borderline planing conditions (too much wetted surface in the wider aft sections). Graeme Hayward, sailing his Uffa design was particularly fast off the wind.
• Two of the Kirby Mk 1’s, Bruce’s and Ward McKim’s, were on the Canadian team in 1961 that won the World 14 team racing championships held at Toronto.

Schock did build a Kirby 14!

The "Old 14er" blogger has to eat a little bit of crow here. See, I told Doc a couple of posts ago that I didn't think that Schock built any Kirby designs, since most of the Schock numbers were in the late 600 range. Well a couple of days ago, Mark Adams emailed me four Schock advertising pictures of, you guessed it, a Kirby Mk 3 model that Schock built. The pictures are of #835, "White Tornado", owned by Roger Welsh, the top California 14 sailor of the late 1960's. He won both the 1968 West Coast Championships and the U.S Nationals in #835.

A little research turns this up from the October 1968 issue of "On The Plane". Stuart Walker writes;

"With the advent of the new Schock Kirby III, which is being pushed successfully by the local fleet, the builder and agents up and down the coast, the continued availability  of the excellent Proctor VI and a new Kirby II in glass, several copies of which are being moulded by Bud Easter, the class will thrive in the West for years to come."

In one of the pics below, Roger is using the mainsail from his previous 14, #607, a Fairy Marine Mk ? built in 1958. (As always, click inside one of the pictures to start a slideshow.)

I don't think Schock built too many of the Kirby III's because the next year, Clark Boatbuilders of Seattle came out with the glass Kirby IV, a design that would prove competitive into the 1980's.

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.