On October 5th, 2015, Marilee was pulled from the water in Belfast, Maine and entered back into the work space of French and Webb officially commencing the second Winter of her two-year restoration.
MARILEE, built for Edward I. Cudahy, is one of only four remaining examples of the New York Yacht Club 40 class, the others being ROWDY, TYPHOON (ex-MAISIE) and RUGOSA. While the main body of the class was built in 1916, MARILEE and RUGOSA were built later, with MARILEE’s launching in 1926. MARILEE was converted to a yawl rig according to Herreshoff drawings, but retains a considerable number of original details, including much of her deck joinerwork, interior panelling, and deck hardware, including her valuable Herreshoff bronze anchor windlass on the fore deck. During the 1960’s MARILEE’s hull was fiberglassed over as a result of the inclination during that period to believing such was a panacea for the up keep on a wooden boat.
A look back at the Summer of 2015 racing season onboard MARILEE. Thanks to Halsey Fulton of Fish Hawk Films, Alison Langley Photography, and all those involved in MARILEE’s successful Summer of classic racing!
NY40 MARILEE-Summer 2015 Highlights from Camille Conover on Vimeo.
To follow the historic restoration progress, the owners have created a blog. This journal provides written details of the restoration, along with numerous pictures. All providing an insightful glimpse into the daily efforts of MARILEE’s museum quality restoration.
MARILEE’s Restoration Blog – please use the following link.