Sail Number: 410/1
Type: International 410
LOA: 35’10 7/8″ / 10.70m – LWL: 28’3″ / 8.62m – Beam 6’10 3/4″ / 1.86 – Draft 5’9″ / 1.79m – Hull Number: – Designer: C. Raymond Hunt – Original Owner: Ray Hunt – Current Owner: – Year Built: 1947 – Built By: Marblehead Yacht Yard – Hull Material: “Harborite” Plywood Construction – Gross Displacement: – Sail Area: 482 sq ft – Status: Lost in 1961 (Shagwong Reef buoy off Montauk Point)
Historical:
James H. “Sham” Hunt on sailing on the International 410 Et Toi – “CRH and I only..age 13…raced in the New London to Marblehead Race in 1949 and won by such a large margin that the committee called the Canal to see if we had taken a short cut through it..no of course….this was when you had to check in before any transit was allowed! I doubt I added much but he had such stamina that a 24 hour vigil was a piece of cake.”
Thames Yacht Club members considered the International 410 “Nor’wester” – “A stylish double-ender, one of the most beautiful boats to ever grace the club fleet. Under sail or bare-poled at her mooring, she always drew comments from people impressed with her near-perfect lines.”
In the Fall of 1961, during the Off Soundings Club Regatta, Nor’Wester’s 4th owner, Charles LaCour and his three member crew were enjoying a comfortable lead with two other boats, they were way ahead of the rest of the fleet. Under full main and small jib with 20-knots of breeze, they were approaching Shagwong Reef buoy off Montauk Point, when a strong squall approached out of nowhere knocking down Nor’wester. A huge swell then filled the non-self-bailing cockpit, and within minutes the boat sunk. The entire crew were picked up and brought to Shelter Island, New York, their final destination point of the first day’s race. That night, still shaken by their ordeal, they returned back to New London, on the Orient Point Ferry.
Anemometer readings, from Montauk Point had clocked gust up to 79 miles per hour. NorWester had sunk in 55′ of water, with strong currents, LaCour decided not to salvage her, figuring reluctantly that they would be unsuccessful in there attempt to raise her.
Later that year, the Off Soundings Race Committee, mandated that all entries had to have self-bailing cockpits. The tragedy influenced the implementation of the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) laws that generated numerous maritime safety rules still in effect today.
Ownership History:
1947 – Et Toi – Ray Hunt
1950s – Nor’wester – Lawrence Chappell, Jr (joined the Thames Yacht Club Fleet)
1950s – Nor’wester – Ray Camp Norwich
1960 – Nor’wester – Charles M. LaCour, Thames Yacht Club member
Known Racing History:
1952 – Thames Yacht Club Distance Race – First boat to finish and corrected time winner.
1949 – Off Soundings Race – (Lawrence Chappell) Spring and Fall – 1st and 2nd place respectively
1948 New London – Marblehead Race (Ray Hunt) Et Toi beat the nearest competitor by 2 hours.
Ship Plans:
NOR’WESTER: Double ended auxiliary sloop, Design #410:
Mystic Seaport
SHIPS PLANS
Plans set
Hunt, C. Raymond; Marblehead Yacht Yard
1947-08-04; 1948-10-11
4 sheets of plans for 35.92 ft. double ended auxiliary sloop, NOR’WESTER (built 1947), design #410 by C. Raymond Hunt. Dates on plans range from 08-04-1947 to 10-11-1948. Also known as the 410 class sloop.
SP.29.178
