Carl Eichenlaub passed away early Saturday morning, November 29, 2013, at 83 years old. In a sport full of iconic figures, he stands with the best and will remain one of the most unique. Few people in the sport have the breadth and depth of his talent.
A frustrated “Left Coast” (San Diego, California) traditionalist, Carl was often quoted on his disdain for non wooden boats.”Fiberglass stinks!” After undergoing a year long study on fiberglass boats, Carl concluded that the resins which hold the layers of fiberglass together go on curing for months after the hull has been taken from the mold, changing shape for as long as a year. He viewed these fiberglass boats as twisted monsters. Carl would go on to say, “If a wooden boat changes shape, it’s fairly easy to correct, with fiberglass, you’re in a mess.” Eichenlaub built boats dominated their classes, with the Eichenlaub Star winning every world championship from 1957 to 1960 and again in 1963.
A Champion sailor in the Snipe, and Lightning classes, Carl also sailed in the Star, Soling, FD’s and IOR classes. And as a legendary builder of these boats, a few of which helped to change the face of the sport, perhaps most notably Doug Peterson’s Ganbare. Carl Eichenlaub will go on to live in the hearts of all who have known him, a friend and mentor to literally thousands of people from around the world.