LOA: 38’6″ / 11.73mm – LWL: 27’3″ / 8.310m – Beam: 11’6″ / 3.35mm – Draft: 4’0” / 1.22m – Design Number: 949NN – Designer: John G. Alden – Original Owner: Dr. Gaines K. Palmes, Arlington, VA – Original name(s) Lang Syne – Current Owner: Joe Hayes, Kingston, NY – Year Launched: 1964 – Built By: Poul Molich, Hundested, Denmark – Hull Material: GRP – Displacement: 15,000 / 6,804 – Sail Area: 674.20 sq ft / 62.63 m2 – MIT Alden Design: John G. Alden Freyja
Historical:
The challenger yawl was one of the last designs drawn by John Alden himself before his death in 1962, and is very similar to the S&S designed Finisterre. The offices of Alden and Stephens had spent many years competing against each other on the racing circuit, but a co-operation between the two great designers during WWII brought their designs closer together.
The Wall of Remembrance – The Owners, Crew & Notable Guest:
Owner/Guardian: Dr. Gaines K. Palmes, Arlington, VA Owner/Guardian: Joe Hayes, Kingston, NY
LOA: 50’ 10″ / 15.50m – LOD: 47’11″ / 14.60 – LWL: 34’2″ / 10.41m – Beam 11’0″ / 3.35m – Draft 7’0” / 2.13m – Design Number: 676 – Designer: John G. Alden – Original Owner: William P. Barrows, Rochester, NY – Current Owner: Todd Feinroth – Year Built: June 15, 1937 – Built By: Herreshoff Mfg. Co. Bristol, RI – Hull Material: Wood – Displacement: 31,900 / 14,470kg – Engine: Perkins 4-108 Diesel.
Historical:
John G. Alden designed cutter Freedom was built at the Herreshoff Mfg. Co. Bristol, RI, in the year 1937 for the (1934) Commodore of the Rochester Yacht Club (N.Y.) William P. Barrows. Barrows won the 1930 Canada’s Cup skippering the 8 metre yacht THISBE, defeating the Fife designed QUEST of the Royal Canadian Yacht Club. Commodore Barrows, it has often been said, had done more to develop yachting on Lake Ontario than any other yachtsman, winning most of the important cups of the Great Lakes.
The Wall of Remembrance – The Owners, Crew & Notable Guest:
Owner/Guardian: William P. Barrows, Rochester, NY Owner/Guardian: Todd Feinroth
LOA: 61’11” / 18.87m – LOD: 61’11” / 18.87m – LWL: 55’4” / 16.86m – Beam: 9’10” / 2.99m – Draft: 6’3” / 1.90m – Displacement: 17,718 lbs / 8,036.74kg – Sail Area: 976 sq. Ft; SA/D 22.97; D/L 46.72; L/B 6.32 – Hull material: Wood – Designer: Robert H. Perry – Built by: Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding in Port Hadlock, Washington / CSR Marine – Year Built: 2014 – Current Name: Francis Lee – Engine: Yanmar 3JH4C/SD50 – 39hp -FLAG: USA (US) – Yacht Club: Seattle Yacht Club
Historical:
Robert H. Perry (Robert H. Perry Yacht Design) – I have known Kim for over 20 years. In that time we have discussed our mutual interest in the history of yacht design and various boats that appealed to both of us. Kim has an amazing library of things yachting with an emphasis on design. Kim also has a history of owning skinny boats. He just prefers narrow boats and can trace this preference back to cruising with his parents on their Dragon Class sloop.
So I wasn’t totally surprised when Kim finally called and suggested we get together to discuss a new boat. During that initial meeting we discussed our mutual love of double enders and our preference for narrow boats. For me narrow is a performance issue. Narrow boats sail well and are generally very well behaved. We like double enders because we just like the look. It’s an aesthetic element that clearly defines the boat. After about an hour I began to sketch and in short time Kim and I were in agreement on how to proceed. The boat evolved way beyond that initial sketch but the seed was planted and the formal part of the design process was initiated.
Drawings were emailed back and forth and soon we were honed in on a type with minimal overhangs, deep draft, narrow beam and a very modest interior layout. The boat was to be by design an “old man’s day sailer”. After some severe arm twisting I convinced Kim that the boat needed a comfortable interior if for nothing else than to satisfy his wife and his two sailing sons, Derek and Brent. The deck layout was to be fine tuned for one man’s operation of all sailing functions.
Kim and I put together a team of experts to contribute to the various elements required to bring the design to life. These included Ivan Erdevicki, my engineer who designed the keel, Tim Nolan from Port Townsend who did all the structural engineering. Jim Franken, Tim’s associate was hired to do all the 3D modeling to allow close tolerance CNC pattern cutting. This is the short list. I won’t even try to list al the contributors to the effort here but rest assured Kim tapped into the wealth of knowledge and experience in the PNW to bring this boat to life. Fact is I had a lot of skilled help in the design process.
FRANCIS LEE aka The Sliver Project was built at the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding in Hadlock Washington and finished at the CSR yard in Ballard. The hull is red cedar strip planking sheathed in glass. The deck is composite out of a female mold made from CNC cut patterns. The interior is also all CNC cut composite panels and masterfully designed to be all assembled outside of the hull and dropped intact into the finished hull. I thank Jim Franken for his work on this part of the project. Jim always amazed us with his cavalier attitude that “It has to fit. It’s all from the same computer file.”
FRANCIS LEE has now been sailing for about three months. The boat’s performance has delighted us from the very first day under sail. The boat is stiff, has great directional stability, perfect docile manners and above all is very fast. So fast in fact, that Kim after winning the first race he entered has seldom missed a race since. The “old man’s daysailer” has turned into Kim’s race boat for now. I have thoroughly enjoyed myself racing the boat. We push the boat hard with a crew of five or six and that’s all we need to beat boats crewed by a dozen or more. Excuse me if I sound smug but it’s because I fell a bit smug about the performance of FRANCIS LEE. The boat is just plain very fast. The feel on the tiller is delicious. We regularly fight over who gets to, drive. I usually win.
Yes, this is an unusual design. No it’s not the boat for everyone. I only wish more people could sail “FRANKIE” to get a feel for the personality of a long, skinny boat. The boat simply has no bad manners.
I struggle when asked what is my favorite design. I don’t struggle anymore. For now my favorite is FRANKIE. It is both an aesthetic and a performance statement of excellence. I am most proud of this design.
LOA: 51’0″ / 15.54m – LOD: 51’0″ / 15.54m – LWL: 30’9” / 9.41m- Beam: 8’6” / 2.62m – Draft: 6’5″ / 1.98m – Ballast: 26,450 lbs – Displacement: 9 tons – Hull material: Wood – Designer: Ernest O Digby – Built by: Victoria Street, Williamstown, Victoria – Year Built: 1947 – Original Owner: Mr. Ernest Digbys – Current Owner: Peter Johns – Vessel Number: HV000622
Historical:
Courtesy of the Australian Register of Historic Vessels, managed by the Australian National Maritime Museum
FRANCES was designed by Ernest Digby who was a well-known yacht builder and designer based in Williamstown on Port Phillip. The 15.54 m (51 foot) carvel planked hull was planked in New Zealand kauri and displaced 9 tonnes. The International 8 Metre Class rule is quite complex, and the only other Australian designer to prepare plans for the class was fellow Victorian Charlie Peel, and both his ACROSPIRE III and IV designs measured in with a rating that was significantly over 8 metres, and they were uncompetitive in Sayonara Cup racing against the European designed boats such as NORN and VANESSA . The Sayonara Cup was the most prestigious of the three Interstate challenge cups which included the Forster Cup and the Northcote Cup. Digby had already designed and built two other eights- INDEPENDANCE launched in 1932 may have measured at 8 metres but there are no records to show this, whereas Digbys next yacht from 1935 DEFIANCE is referred to as the first 8metre designed and built in Australia and does rate at 8 metres.
Although rating just over 8 metres at 8.14 metres, the yacht had success in Sayonara Cup racing, and in 1951 FRANCES defended the cup against the Tasmanian built but European designed challenger ERICA J (HV000492). FRANCES was then the first Australian designed and built yacht to successfully defend the Sayonara Cup. It repeated its defence against ERICA J the following year, but then lost to ERICA J in 1953. It then became the first Australian designed and built challenger to win the trophy when it won the cup back in 1954 from ERICA J.
In 1955 it faced a formidable challenge from both ERICA J and also SASKIA from NSW, imported from Europe and reputed to be the fastest 8 metre of the era. SASKIA won, but Digby’s helming skill and FRANCES’s speed in light weather allowed FRANCES to win one race, and this result was repeated a year later when SASKIA successfully defended the cup off Sydney Heads. SASKIA was clearly in a class above the rest, and there were no further challenges until 1962, when FRANCES, now owned by B Magnussen and O Petley and renamed BRIDGETTE challenged unsuccessfully against SASKIA. This was the last big yacht series held for this trophy, which in 2014 is now raced for by much smaller International Dragon Class yachts.
FRANCES continued to race on Port Phillip under new owners T Kirkwood, then A Morrison and then M Wood before the current owner bought the yacht. It has a minimal internal fit out, and no engine, a feature of these racing yachts in their prime, while many of the existing 8’s now have an engine installed.
Provenance (The Wall of Remembrance – The Owners, Crew & Notable Guest):
Owner/Guardian: Mr. Ernest Digbys Owner/Guardian: B. Magnussen and O. Petley, renamed BRIDGETTE Owner/Guardian: T. Kirkwood Owner/Guardian: A. Morrison Owner/Guardian: M. Wood Owner/Guardian: Peter Johns
