Author: admin

Sail Number: 25

Type: Marconi Cutter

Oenone Specifications:

LOA: 50’10″ / 15.50m – LOD: 44’11″ / 13.70m – LWL: 34’5″ / 10.50m – Beam: 10’9″ / 3.30m – Draft: 7’2” / 2.20m – Hull Number: – Designer: Frederick Shepherd – Original Owner: Mr. E.G. Wardrop – Current Owner: Enrico Zaccagni – Commodore of the Viareggio Historic Sailboat Association – Year Launched: April 6, 1935, Lymington UK – Built By: Berthon Boat Shipyard, Lymington UK – Displacement: 17 tons – Engine: Yanmar 50 HP

 

Historical:

In Greek mythology, Oenone (/ɪˈnoʊniː/; Greek: Oinōnē – Οἰνώνη “wine woman”) was the first wife of Paris of Troy, whom he abandoned for the queen Helen of Sparta.

Oenone is a Bermuda 15 meter long cutter, built in 1935 by Lymington’s Berthon Boat Co. of England by Fredrick Sheperd. The construction is in pitch pine, revisioned and rebuilt with bronze screws and totally claped, rendered in English white oak. The interior, largely original, is in Mahogany of Honduras.

Restoration was completed in 2013, carried out by Naval Shipyard Francesco Del Carlo in Viareggio. Winning the “Award for Best Restoration” in 2014 by AIVE (Italian Vela d’Epoca Association)

 

Provenance (The Wall of Remembrance – The Owners, Crew & Notable Guest):

• Guardian/Owner: Mr. E.G. Wardrop
• Guardian/Owner: Enrico Zaccagni – Commodore of the Viareggio Historic Sailboat Association.

   

  

   

Alden “O Class” Specifications:

LOA: 18′ 01″ / 5.51m – LOD: – LWL: 15′ 05″ / 4.70m – Beam: 06′ 08″ / 2.03m – Draft: 01′ 01″ (Board up) / 0.33m – Ballast: 550 lbs – Displacement: – Sail Area: 192 sq ft – Yard Number: 188 – Hull material: Wood construction – Rig: Fractional Sloop Rig – Designer: John G. Alden – Built by: – First Year Designed: 1924 – Number Built: 600 – Restored By: – Current Name: – Original Owner: – Contract Price: $650.00 – Current Owner: – Sail Number:

 

Historical:

In terms of numbers, the O class is the most popular, designed for a group of Marblehead, Massachusetts, yachtsmen, as trainers for teenage sailors. Two variations were built, one for moderate weather, and the other for heavier winds. For safety and comfort, the boat was given plenty of freeboard, a deep cockpit with coamings, and a watertight bulkhead forward to prevent the 550 lbs of ballast from sinking her, in the event of capsize.

 

Comments

 

Gerardo – January 14, 2015

Dear sirs. I just recieve the photo colección SaIling 1917 -1934
I want to confirm if the 4 boats with an “O” on the sail correspond to the Alden ” O boats”.
Photo reference is :
File name: 08_06_012708
Title: Sailing
Creator/Contributor: Jones, Leslie, 1886-1967 (photographer)
Date created: 1917 – 1934 (approximate)
Physical description: 1 negative : glass, black & white ; 4 x 5 in.
Genre: Glass negatives
Subjects: Sailboats; Sailing
Notes: Title from information provided by Leslie Jones or the Boston Public Library on the negative or negative sleeve.; Date supplied by cataloger.

Collection: Leslie Jones Collection
Location: Boston Public Library, Print Department
Rights: Copyright © Leslie Jones.
Preferred credit: Courtesy of the Boston Public Library, Leslie Jones Collection.

I’m colecting data and photos of 12 O boats Alden design built in Quilmes , Argentina in 1931.
Regards Gerardo.

 

Admin – January 15, 201

Designed in 1921 for Marblehead MA sailing conditions.
Two design references in the Alden index:
169 – LOA: 18’2″ x WL: 15’6″ x Beam: 6’2″ x Draft: 1’0″ x 200 sq ft x 450 lbs (inside ballast)
188 – LOA: 18’1″ X WL: 15’5″ X Beam: 6’8″ x Draft: 1’1″ X 550 lbs x 192 sq ft (inside ballast)

Some clubs choose to switch sail plans to suite their requirements, adding to some confusion. The picture you are referring to, shows all boats sailing together with the “O” lower on the sail, with the sail number higher.

In reference to the collection there is another photo that shows all boats racing together with O’s higher and lower, and also sail numbers within the O’s, so in our best opinion the picture shows the John Alden “O” boat, and placement of the O’s was the sailmaker/owners choice, and possibly by logo upgrades as the years passed.

 

Kenneth Rolt – August 1, 2020

The sail insignia and # depends on the sailmaker, but also depends on the YC. In the early to mid 1920s, the “O” Class were sailed by a large fleet in Marblehead, as well as smaller fleets in Cohasset and in South Boston. #10 Gosling of the South Boston YC was the SBYC title winner in 1926, the last year SBYC owned the boats. They sold them to Hingham after that, to be replaced for 1927 by new Squantum Marconi dories, a.k.a. Indian Marconi class boats. That was also the first year for the 5-YC interclub Mass Bay Indian Association. I can’t for sure ID the boats in this Jones’ photo as SBYC, there isn’t enough information yet. However, the skinny guy on the helm sure looks like my grandfather, and he was the main stickman for the SBYC Gosling in 1926, and in the SBYC Indian Marconi in 1927 that won the Mass Bay Indian title. The 30 Aug 1925 Boston Herald has a nice photo of the “O” Class on page 8 B (which is the 24th page), and shows an inset of both the winning boat for that day, Gosling, and its crew. Cronin does not look happy, my grandfather does.

 

Kenneth Rolt – August 1, 2020

The lead boat #11 is labeled as Debutante on the transom. That probably makes this a Hingham YC event, because the 26 June 1932 HYC race had #11 Debutante as the winner and #10 Gosling was 6th (source: 1932 June 27 Boston Globe p10). R. Cutler Lowe Jr was listed for Debutante and Richard Bisbee for Gosling. Debutante was probably renamed because it didn’t appear in earlier year O Class races. The photographer Leslie Jones didn’t start taking photos until the 1934 season, so chances are this one is 1934+ with the same fleet. The sail arrangement with the big O under the #s was probably a feature of the new suits Hingham bought when they got South Boston’s boats, including the Gosling. HTH.

 

Kenneth Rolt – August 1, 2020

There is a restored Alden O Class boat the the Mystic Seaport Museum.
http://forum.woodenboat.com/showthread.php?109593-Charles-W-Morgan-Restoration-A-Volunteer-s-Perspective-1/page70&highlight=O+Class+Mystic

 

Juan – November 7, 2021

We have one that we hace restored in Uruguay.

 

Mark F – February 13, 2023

There is a small fleet of O-boats racing on Upper St Regis Lake in the Adirondacks. I believe they are the 450 lb/6′ 2″ beam version. Some are original 1920s (with many refurbs over the years) and some were built more recently in Maine.

 

Sail Number: 10888

Type: Ketch

LOA: 60’0″ / 18.28m – LOD: 60’0″ / 18.28m – LWL: 48’0″ / 14.63m – Beam: 16’3″ / 4.95m – Draft: 5’10” / 1.77m – Displacement: 100,000 lbs – Ballast: 30,000 lbs – Yard Number: – Hull material: Airex-cored fiberglass – Designer: Ted Hood – Built by: Frans Maas – Year Launched: 1972 – Original Name: Surprise – Original Owner: David McCullough, NYYC – Former name(s) – Sail Area: 1,750 sq ft

 

Historical:

NORTHERN LIGHTS is perhaps best described as a “Modern Classic.” She is the product of two of the most creative and talented names in the boat business of her time, yacht designer Ted Hood and Dutch boat builder, Frans Maas.

Boat has participated in both Newport -Bermuda and Marion-Bermuda races.

 

Provenance (The Wall of Remembrance – The Owners, Crew & Notable Guest):

• Guardian/Owner: (1972) – David McCullough, NYYC
• Guardian/Owner: (current) Robert L. Rosie, Jr.

 

Sail Number: H 23-6

Vessel Type: Fisher’s Island 23 (Fractional Sloop)

ex Chance, ex Valsa, ex Galatea, ex Dorragh

LOA: 34′ 0″ – LWL: 23′ 0″ – Beam: 7′ 0″ – Draft: 4′ 6″ – Ballast: 2,500 lbs (Lead) – Displacement: 5,050 lbs – Hull Number: 1274 – Designer: A. Sydney Herreshoff – Built by: Herreshoff Manufacturing Co. – Hull Construction: White Oak / Mahogany (tight seam) – Original Owner: Arthur E. Whitney – Year Built: 1934 – Boat Location: – Newport, Rhode Island – Original Name: Norma B. – Current Name: Norma B. – Current Owner: IYRS

 

Historical:

An evolution of the one off “Silver Heels”, design number 1204 of 1931 that was used by the company to test new concepts, and serve as a demonstrator.

A year after “Silver Heels” was introduced, Sidney designed a less expensive version to meet the challenges of the “Great Depression”.

This boat was first known only as the 23 foot LWL sloop, and based on an initial purchase of eight boats by the Fishers Island Yacht Club, starting with design 1212 through design 1225, was subsequently known by the FI 23 and later the FI H-23 designations. As a class. they raced at Fishers Island from 1932 – 1955, and some of them are still sailing today.

IYRS (Currently being restored 3.15.2015)

 

Provenance (The Wall of Remembrance – The Owners, Crew & Notable Guest):

Owner/Guardian: (1934) Arthur E. Whitney
Owner/Guardian: IYRS

 

Sail Number: 1939

Type: Marconi Yawl

LOA: 86′ 0″ / 26.21m – LOD: 86′ 0″ / 26.21m – LWL: 50′ 10″ / 18.20m – Beam: 17′ 6″ / 5.33m – Draft: 11′ 6″ / 3.50m – Displacement: 65 tons – Year Launched: 1938 – Designed by: Henry Gruber – Built by: Burmeister & Wain – Refits: 1976, 1983, 2003 – Hull Material: Wood – Engine: 1 x FIAT 820SM 280 HP – Flag: United Kingdom (GB) – Club: NYYC, (New York Yacht Club) YCCS (Yacht Club Costa Smeralda) – Location: Sailing Yacht Nordwind

 

Historical:

Transatlantic Yacht Race – Nordwind and her sister ship, Ostwind were built in 1938 / 1939 for the German Navy as replacements for the yachts “Astra” and “Orion”, two ocean racing sailing yachts which the Navy maintained as part of their officers training programs at their stations in the North Sea (Wilhelmshaven) and in the Baltic (Naval Academy Flensburg Mürwik). Nordwind was the first to be finished and was sent to participate in the 1939 Fastnet race in which she took line honors and established a new record that held for 24 years until it was broken by “Gitana IV” in 1963.

A lot of myths surround Nordwind and her sister ship Ostwind: It has been alleged that Nordwind has been “Admiral Dönitz’s boat” and Ostwind has even been called the boat of various Nazi Chieftains including Hitler himself. None of this is true. Both boats were regular commissioned Navy vessels. Nordwind was initially stationed in Wilhelmshaven, where Admiral Dönitz at that time was the highest-ranking officer. As such, he has actually sailed on her three or four times, but he neither commissioned her nor ever skippered or let alone owned her. Likewise, Ostwind never had any infamous owner or skipper and even though she was after the war sunk off the coast of Florida for allegedly having been “Hitler’s boat”, the infamous Nazi leader never set foot on her.

After the war, both Nordwind and Ostwind were confiscated and sent to England where Nordwind was bought by Lord Hugh Astor who raced her for many years in the Solent and on the North Sea. In the late 70’s, Dutch naval architect Gerard Dijkstra turned Nordwind into one of the earliest classic yacht restoration projects. Works were started at Camper & Nicholson’s in England and finished in Holland. Unfortunately though, the restoration of the hull was faulty at the time, hence another complete restoration became necessary which the present owner undertook from 2001 to 2004 in Spain. But for her interior layout, where some of the modifications made by Dijkstra were maintained, Nordwind has been restored to her original plans. She has since participated in many classic races including the 2005 Transat, where she was beat by “Sumurun” by two hours and 34 minutes.

Today Nordwind travels to remote corners on all oceans. In 2009/10 Nordwind has rounded Cape Horn and extensively traveled the Straight of Magellan, the Beagle Channel and the South coast of Chile and in the summer of 2012 she will attempt to sail the Northwest Passage.

 

Provenance (The Wall of Remembrance – The Owners, Crew & Notable Guest):

Owner/Guardian: German Navy
Owner/Guardian: Lord Hugh Astor
Owner/Guardian: (2012) – Albrecht Hans
Captain: (2012) – Alex Veccia
Captain: (2019) – Kalle Ebner