Sommaire pour October 2015 de Soundings

It was 1966. Finnish boatbuilder Pekka Koskenkylä had asked the New York-based design firm Sparkman & Stephens to draw up lines for an 11- to 12-meter sailboat that was seaworthy and strong enough for bluewater cruising but quick on the racecourse, too. Rod Stephens was in Finland to check on a project that was underway, and he gave Koskenkylä the drawings. S&S design No. 1701 became the Swan 36, a trendsetter that changed the way performance cruisers were designed and built. The sloop was a departure from the norm, from her underbody to her cabin layout to her construction — using a new material called fiber glass. In fact, it was S&S’s first production sailboat in fiberglass. The Swan 36 looked like a classic, with her overhangs, wood coaming and…

I had an opportunity to sea-trial the new quad-outboard Regulator 41 center console this summer. I also was able to pilot Regulator’s largest boat through North Carolina’s notorious Oregon Inlet. I was psyched because this was my first time in these waters. I have tested most of the Regulator center consoles — the 25, 26 (first version), 32 and 34. These boats deliver a soft ride in challenging seas with minimal pounding. The 41 was no different. The Lou Codega-designed deep-vee (24-degree transom deadrise) shouldered off the cut’s 2- to 3-foot chop and then knifed through 4-foot swells just off the coast. I ran the boat in every direction to the sea and through a wide speed range, from 25 mph to a top end of 62 mph. The boat…

In Oakcliff Sailing Center’s main building near Oyster Bay Harbor on New York’s Long Island, a half-dozen employees, students and volunteers are bustling around the office, organizing upcoming regattas and other events. In the adjacent maintenance shop, a staffer is finishing a fiberglass repair to the bow of a catamaran shattered in a collision. Upstairs in a new dormitory, eight young sailors are holding a “debrief” on how they might have performed better in a race in Newport, Rhode Island, the previous weekend. Across the street in Oakcliff’s boatyard, another staffer rolls touch-up paint onto a 40-foot sloop. And hustling back and forth between all of this summer weekday activity — and keeping tabs on all of it — is Dawn Riley, one of the world’s most famous sailors and…

Six boat and yacht clubs, 18 miles of bicycling trails, eight golf courses, dozens of social clubs, cultural activities, dining and beautiful southwest Florida weather convinced Bill and Liz Chudoba to build their retirement home on a waterfront tip lot in Punta Gorda. “We love it here,” Liz says. “There’s so much to do — we can never be bored.” Now, after enjoying their 3,900-square-foot home for 13 years, the 77-year-old retired couple is downsizing, but remaining in Punta Gorda. Their property, which has 197 feet of canal frontage, two concrete docks, the three-bedroom-three-bath home, an attached threecar garage, a swimming pool and a spa, is on the market for $949,000. Inside the leaded-glass front doors, tile flooring unifies the home’s open plan, which features a central great room with…

Chances are this big old flybridge cruiser, awash in Miami harbor and surrounded by debris from Hurricane Cleo, didn’t get a lot of of-fers. Cleo struck in August 1964 after ravaging the Antilles with 155-mph winds and leaving more than 150 dead. As it approached the Miami area, it was downgraded to a tropical storm. But hurricanes are fickle things; after leaving Cuba behind, Cleo got stronger. When it hit North Miami on Aug. 27, it was a Category 2 storm with winds of more than 100 mph and gusts as high as 135 mph. Barometric pressure plunged to 28.57 inches, rain (more than 9 inches in some areas) came down in wind-blown sheets, and a 6-foot storm surge swept unchecked into scores of marinas lining the coast. All hell…

Jim Flannery’s September piece “Sail Freight Experiences A Rebirth” caught my eye. As a mate and later driver for eight years on the schooner Harvey Gamage, I look forward to hearing more about this new chapter in her log book. Being old enough to remember the resistance from the trucking unions to sail transports back in the 1970s, I wish her well in her new endeavor in commercial commerce. To punctuate the decline of freight under sail, Ned Ackerman’s John F. Leavitt — a 97-foot schooner built in Thomaston, Maine, the first sailing cargo ship built in the United States in 40 years — sank on its maiden (and final) voyage in 1979, heavily laden. John Barry Oak Island, North Carolina PARALLEL COURSES It is interesting that Mary South and…

The last few months have been an exciting time for treasure hunters and fans of historic wrecks, as the oceans yielded surprising secrets. Three of the most interesting are the 15thcentury Hanneke Wrome in Finland, the Spanish Armada ship La Juliana in Ireland and the polar explorer Maud in Canada. La Juliana The stormy North Atlantic swallowed up 26 Spanish warships along Ireland’s rugged northwest coast in 1588, and now the seas are coughing up the wreckage of one of those ships after two years of severe winter storms uncovered her remains. Off Streedagh Strand in County Sligo, archaeologists this summer recovered six bronze cannons, a gun carriage wheel, a copper ship’s cauldron and a number of smaller items from the La Juliana, an 860-ton Sicilian merchant ship that had…

The fall and winter boat shows promise a diverse fleet — motoryachts, convertibles, express cruisers, coupes, sedans, high-performance racing and fishing boats. But it’s the open boat — primarily center consoles, now up to 53 feet — that has become the dominating class. Center consoles fit the needs of time-strapped boaters, who call upon their craft for fewer overnights, preferring shorter (and more) make-the-most-of-every-minute outings — diving, swimming, fishing, gunkholing, water sports. And center consoles do a fine job for sunset cruises, too. Dual consoles also fall under the umbrella of open boats, attracting families with a nice balance of seating, storage and functional layouts, with walkthrough windshields and bow seating. Dual and center consoles have growing lists of creature comforts, such as air conditioning, stoves, grills, flat-screen televisions and…

As boat show season gets underway, the generally positive economic climate in the United States promises to produce a bonanza of new sailboats, with builders seeking to capitalize on market conditions. This is especially true for European manufacturers that are looking to North America to make up for the lackluster performance of their domestic economies, which are continuing to deal with the repercussions of the Greek bailout. One of the concomitants is the decline in value of the euro, which reduces the price of the boats exported to the United States. Look for newcomers Italia Yachts and Turkish brands Euphoria and Azuree, but don’t count out the new offerings from domestic builders J/Boats, Hunter-Marlow, US Watercraft and, for the first time in a decade, Hinckley. And if you like speed…

When he was barely 5 or 6 years old, Jerry Rose’s mother bought him a paint-by-numbers kit. From such small gifts are lifelong passions nourished. “It was a horse, I think,” says the 67-year-old artist. “I found out halfway through that I didn’t need the numbers, and I certainly didn’t need the lines.” He was off, with a passion for painting that has sustained him through six decades. Known for his “dynamic brushwork and luscious textures,” Rose has appeared in many galleries, taught at such venues as The WoodenBoat School and can be seen on YouTube. Along the way he has combined his love of art with a love of all things “boat.” Living in Gloucester, Massachusetts, for a time, he got involved with boatbuilding, and “painting took a back…

Pelican ProGear 2780 LED headlamp Equipped with a super-bright LED, with intensities from 53 to 430 lumens, as well as flashing and downcast modes (for reading or illuminating a hiking path), this versatile new headlamp fits various applications. It is water-resistant, comes with three interchangeable faceplates and pivots 70 degrees. $80. Pelican Products, Torrance, California. (800) 473-5422. pelican.com PulseTech Battery Recovery Charger PulseTech introduces the SC-2, a two-station HD recovery charger that can recover, charge, maintain and desulfate two 12-volt lead-acid batteries. The compact and portable charger works with any 12-volt battery type, including VRLA, AGM, gel and flooded cell. Recovery charging stations operate in isolation, allowing any combination of battery brands or types to be recharged simultaneously. $895. PulseTech Products Corp., Southlake, Texas, (817) 329-6099. pulsetech.net Scandvik Fuel Fill…

ICONIC BEACON: The federal government in August transferred ownership of Ledge Light, which marks the entrance to the Thames River in Connecticut from Long Island Sound, to the New London Maritime Society. Constructed in 1909, the unique beacon is a three-story brick-and-granite structure with 11 rooms, a mansard roof, an octagonal watch room and a cylindrical lantern. It will remain an active aid to navigation. Many new boats have become laden with creature comforts, so it’s refreshing to happen upon a simple, no-nonsense vessel such as the Albury Brothers 33, a center console with no grill, hi-def television, air conditioning or other luxuries. Albury Brothers has been building small boats on Man-O-War Cay in the Bahamas since 1952. In 2003 the family agreed to allow Albury enthusiast Jeff Lichterman to…

If we’re lucky, most of us stumble into doing something we enjoy. Few of us are born to a purpose, as Matthew Stackpole seems to be. A descendant of a whaling family, he spent the first seven years of his life on Nantucket, Massachusetts. His father, Edouard — the author of 28 books and monographs on whaling and Nantucket — moved the family to Mystic, Connecticut, in 1953 when he was made director of Mystic Seaport Museum. Stackpole grew up playing aboard the whaleship Charles W. Morgan, then worked as a rigger at Mystic. He spent five years crewing on the topsail schooner Shenandoah and fell in love with Martha’s Vineyard. In the early 1970s, Matthew and his wife, Martha, bought the 50-foot Concordia schooner Mya. They were schoolteachers at…

Back in 1925, oystermen harvested an estimated 6 million to 8 million bushels of oysters from Chesapeake Bay. That year, the buyboats Nellie Crockett and Agnes Sterling were launched on opposite sides of the Bay — from Crisfield, Maryland, and Amburg, Virginia, respectively. About 5,000 of these boats — deckboats that transferred oysters from smaller boats to wholesalers ashore — were built, making them one of the most prolific working craft ever to ply the Bay. Ninety years later, the oyster harvest and buyboat numbers have dwindled significantly. The Chesapeake Bay oyster catch today is counted in the hundreds of thousands of bushels instead of millions, and fewer than 50 of the original 5,000 buyboats are known to survive. But despite those numbers, buyboats can still be found on Chesapeake…

As summer gives way to fall and starts its inevitable slide toward winter, boats are wrapped and put away in the Northern climes, where owners are left longing for spring. This is part of the appeal of boat show season, the string of new-boat showcases around the country that offer passionate boaters, wannabes and dreamers their nautical fix for the off-season. They vary from the massive Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show to smaller regional exhibits and classic wooden-boat shows. All draw their share of enthusiasts, and if you have a nautical itch, there’s likely a perfect place to scratch it. Here are a few of our returning favorites of the fall season. Newport International Boat Show Sept. 17-20, Newport, Rhode Island This show is imbued with the feel of its…