A Brief History of Saltaire Sailing

PHOTOS AND PHOTO CAPTIONS BY DR. DICK (“THE EYE OF THE MCMANI:) MCMANUS

Essay by McManus Mate Richard McManus

Saltaire Sailing 1948

Cape Cod Baby Knockabouts (CC’s) being readied to race in 1948.

A CC at speed, same era.

Edna Lange, Margery McManus and Dot Schmidt, 1948
The Schmidt boat would later become the club boat (I THINK).

CC’s Racing, 1948 off Saltaire dock.

All photographs Dr. Richard G. McManus
Copyright Richard G. McManus 2008

The CC's (Cape Cod Baby Knockabouts) were built in the 20's and 30's.
They were handsome and very well designed for use on the Great South Bay
as they drew about eight inches of water with the centerboard up, were
fast upwind and down, and were pretty entertaining to sail. They were 18
feet in length and usually needed a crew of three to race but could sail
with six. Cape Cod Shipbuilding had built them extremely well with cedar
planks and sturdy structural members. They had a lead ballast beneath
the floorboards to help them stay upright.

By the late 50's they were dwindling. Someone would decide that by golly
they could do the care of the boat themselves right on the beach in
Saltaire instead of sending the boat to Southard's boatyard in Bay Shore.

Within a year the boat would be a planter, rotting out and hopeless. The
fleet kept getting smaller. By the 1961 there were only five left--the
club had one, the Paul Connelly's had 'Con-Tiki' the fastest and best cared
for of the CC's, the Lapps, Oliver Hull and Hugh O’Brien had one.
Con-Tiki sailed away from all the others in any races that were held in
that era, and the cost of keeping a CC up had become a real problem. The
sailors wanted a different class boat, but finding the right one did not
go smoothly.

There are a series of good stories about this. The Tom Connelly's

purchasing a Cape Cod Rhodes 18, a very nice and fast boat, but the
price was prohibitive and the one they purchased remained the only one
for some years. The Rhodes also had the disadvantage of a deep rudder
and centerboard, so one had to approach the various flats cautiously.

Then the Ervins and another family bought a Puffin. This was a cute
little boat, about 14 feet long and kind of chubby, like a catboat. They
were fiberglass and relatively light. A sales rep came down to
demonstrate the little boat one day in 1959 or so. Unfortunately while
the boat was being put through its paces it capsized in front of a dock
full of prospective customers and interested spectators. ** (see note below) That was a problem. Worse was that the little Puffin was too slow to fight the
powerful tides on the GS Bay. Sailing it into a tideway was a
pilgrimage, with the boat going backward over the bottom no matter how
lovely she might look on the water. In fact I came close to throwing
Johnny O'Shea right off the boat when, on a sailing picnic, he insisted
on sailing the damn thing straight into the channel for about 400
successive tacks near Captree Island as we attempted to sail to the
inlet. Each time we came up to the dock at the same fisherman, who
looked at us with a great deal of curiosity.

My dad had been a resident at Mass General Hospital and consequently had
seen the Boston Community Boating Mercury fleet, which had already
established itself as a very hardy bunch of sailboats. He bought Mercury
#653 in 1961 (I THINK) and Ann Buchler, later Riley skippered the little
boat against the CC fleet. While the Mercury was NOT perfect for the
Bay, it was a great improvement, and the second year four other boats
were purchased. The Ervins, Standards, Frank McManus and the Gibson's all
purchased Mercurys. The following year Jonathan Leigh and the O'Sheas
purchased them as well and the era of the Mercury began. These boats
will probably outlast Fire Island, as they all look about the same more
than 40 years later. Not fast, not sporty, and not smelling good like
the old cedar CC's, it was the Mercury's that got many of us racing.
They were evenly matched and didn't overly favor the better cared for
boat. You could have your teenager paint them with bottom paint and do a
bit of varnishing on the rudder and you were in business for the season.
They were an excellent teaching boat and even if you planed one into a
buoy (I did that) the resulting damage was minuscule.

Better boats came later but the Mercury's ruled the 60's and early 70's.

Richard

Richard McManus

***post note by JOH:

Among the great mysteries of Maritime History are:

Did the Savannah go down off Fair Harbor?

Could the S.S. Californian have saved the victims of the Titanic??

Did the Bismark go down under enemy fire or was she scuttled by her own skipper?

But perhaps the greatest mystery is :

What caused the “uncapsizable” Puffin to capsize in front of hundreds of prospective buyers on Labor day in 1959?

What was the weather?

What were the sailing conditions?

Who were the crew?

The controversy lives on. Check us text week, same time, same blog for the controversial epic: The capsizing of the Uncapsizable Puffin:

Eyewitness accounts of that terrible day.

Serious speculation.

The greatest intrigue until the grassy knoll.

And you can read about it here

Only on: WWW.saltaire38.blogspot.com

JOH/Derf

Editors

GREAT PICTURES BY DERF RECALL THE GREAT HISTORY OF SALTAIRE SAILING

Magnificent photos by DERF recall the great moments of Saltaire past. Remember, sailors of today, many came before you and many will come after you. You must tell your stories.

We have lots of stories about Saltaire sailing. For a brief historyod Sataire sailing, cick here:

http://saltaire38.blogspot.com/search?q=brief+history+of+saltaire+sailing


For one of our all time great Saltaire38.blogspot.com stories, see Patsy O'Shea's confession of the Great Puffin capsizing that changed the course of Saltaire sailing forever, click here:

http://saltaire38.blogspot.com/search?q=capsizers


Or just click the topic "sailing" in the column on the left of this page and it will lead you to all our sailing stories to date. Trouble is, we only have about eleven sailing stories. Add yours today.

Paul Connelly sails his "Tuck" early 1970's
Picture by Frank Mina




Cape Cod Knockabouts, 1940s-1960's



Edie Whitney Watts at the helm, late 1940's

Racing in the 1940's



Pictue by Dick McManus, 1940's





Pictre s by Dick McManus 1940's

A Brief History of Saltaire Sailing

PHOTOS AND PHOTO CAPTIONS BY DR. DICK (“THE EYE OF THE MCMANI:) MCMANUS

Essay by McManus Mate Richard McManus

(Originally posted July 3, 2008)

Saltaire Sailing 1948 (Click on all photos to enlarge)

Cape Cod Baby Knockabouts (CC’s) being readied to race in 1948.

A CC at speed, same era.

Edna Lange, Margery McManus and Dot Schmidt, 1948
The Schmidt boat would later become the club boat (I THINK).

CC’s Racing, 1948 off Saltaire dock.

All photographs Dr. Richard G. McManus
Copyright Richard G. McManus 2008

The CC's (Cape Cod Baby Knockabouts) were built in the 20's and 30's. They were handsome and very well designed for use on the Great South Bay as they drew about eight inches of water with the centerboard up, were
fast upwind and down, and were pretty entertaining to sail. They were 18 feet in length and usually needed a crew of three to race but could sail with six. Cape Cod Shipbuilding had built them extremely well with cedar planks and sturdy structural members. They had a lead ballast beneath the floorboards to help them stay upright.

By the late 50's they were dwindling. Someone would decide that by golly they could do the care of the boat themselves right on the beach in Saltaire instead of sending the boat to Southard's boatyard in Bay Shore.

Within a year the boat would be a planter, rotting out and hopeless. The fleet kept getting smaller. By 1961 there were only five left--the club had one, the Paul Connelly's had 'Con-Tiki' the fastest and best cared for of the CC's, the Lapps, Oliver Hull and Hugh O’Brien had one.

Con-Tiki sailed away from all the others in any races that were held in that era, and the cost of keeping a CC up had become a real problem. The sailors wanted a different class boat, but finding the right one did not go smoothly.

There are a series of good stories about this. The Tom Connollys purchased a Cape Cod Rhodes 18, a very nice and fast boat, but the price was prohibitive and the one they purchased remained the only one for some years. The Rhodes also had the disadvantage of a deep rudder and centerboard, so one had to approach the various flats cautiously.

Then the Ervins and another family bought a Puffin. This was a cute little boat, about 14 feet long and kind of chubby, like a catboat. They were fiberglass and relatively light. A sales rep came down to demonstrate the little boat one day in 1959 or so. Unfortunately while the boat was being put through its paces it capsized in front of a dock full of prospective customers and interested spectators. ** (see note below) That was a problem. Worse was that the little Puffin was too slow to fight the powerful tides on the GS Bay. Sailing it into a tideway was a pilgrimage, with the boat going backward over the bottom no matter how lovely she might look on the water. In fact I came close to throwing Johnny O'Shea right off the boat when, on a sailing picnic, he insisted on sailing the damn thing straight into the channel for about 400 successive tacks near Captree Island as we attempted to sail to the inlet. Each time we came up to the dock at the same fisherman, who looked at us with a great deal of curiosity.

My dad had been a resident at Mass General Hospital and consequently had
seen the Boston Community Boating Mercury fleet, which had already established itself as a very hardy bunch of sailboats. He bought Mercury #653 in 1961 (I THINK) and Ann Buchler, later Riley skippered the little boat against the CC fleet. While the Mercury was NOT perfect for the Bay, it was a great improvement, and the second year four other boats were purchased. The Ervins, Standards, Frank McManus and the Gibson's all purchased Mercurys. The following year Jonathan Leigh and the O'Sheas purchased them as well and the era of the Mercury began. These boats will probably outlast Fire Island, as they all look about the same more than 40 years later. Not fast, not sporty, and not smelling good like the old cedar CC's, it was the Mercury's that got many of us racing. They were evenly matched and didn't overly favor the better cared for boat. You could have your teenager paint them with bottom paint and do a bit of varnishing on the rudder and you were in business for the season. They were an excellent teaching boat and even if you planed one into a buoy (I did that) the resulting damage was minuscule.

Better boats came later but the Mercury's ruled the 60's and early 70's.

Richard

Richard McManus

***post note by JOH:

Among the great mysteries of Maritime History are:

• Did the Savannah go down off Fair Harbor?

• Could the S.S. Californian have saved the victims of the Titanic?

• Did the Bismark go down under enemy fire or was she scuttled by her own skipper?

But perhaps the greatest mystery is :

What caused the “uncapsizable” Puffin to capsize in front of hundreds of prospective buyers on Labor Day in 1959?

• What was the weather?

• What were the sailing conditions?

• Who were the crew?

The controversy lives on. Check us next week, same time, same blog for the controversial epic: The capsizing of the Uncapsizable Puffin:

Eyewitness accounts of that terrible day.

Serious speculation.

The greatest intrigue until the grassy knoll.

Cosmo adds:
            Back in the late 60's and early 70's, each Spring I would have to spend weeks getting my Father's Cape Cod ready for the Season.  Scrape the hull, chalk the seems, paint the hull and deck.  Finally it was time to put the boat in the Bay off the Lapp House.  Some of the Old-Timers will remember what happened next.  The boat would immediately sink up to the gunnels.  I would be the laughing stock of Saltaire for the next three or four days.  Then, after I baled the boat out, it would float like a cork after the hull had swollen with the Bay water.  In the Fall of 1973, I left for college, and a storm blew our CC against the bulkhead and broke her ribs.  I'll miss her.

And you can read about it here

Only on: http://www.saltaire38.blogspot.com/

JOH/Derf

Editors

Collum McCurdy wins Marcus Cup!

The Fearless Racers
(click all photos to enlarge)

Collum McCurdy, son of lifelong Saltaire resident Maura Corrigan McCurdy, sailed to victory in the third annual Larry Marcus cup held Sunday, July 19. In heavy winds against a field of five boats, Collum McCurdy prevailed in a three race series while sailing a Sunfish. Also racing were Mayor Scott Rosenblum and old timer Ted Friend in Flying Scotts. Also racing in dead last place was yours truly, racing in another Flying Scott with Collum McCurdy's father Brendon, Oliver Hull III and Ann Marcus, daughter of the late Larry Marcus. Frequent Cat-calls from the race committee boat implored the last place boat to "Hurry up, we'ld like to get another race in".

Ann Marcus Golub writes:
On behalf of the Marcus Family, I want to thank everyone that participated, especially our SYC Fleet Captain, Geoffrey Meluso, who organized and called old friends, (Teddy & Chip). I want to thank those that came to watch especially Susan Jacobson Marcus, who travelled down from Albany to be a part of the day. I want to thank those who were in spirit like Jen in Chicago - Lastly I want thank those that came for the finish and cold glass of beer. All of you and Great Wind & Weather made the day a success

LARRY MARCUS REMEMBERED IN THE THIRD ANNUAL MARCUS CUP LANDLUBBERS RACE THIS SUNDAY

Picture by Dan Gallagher: Larry Racing, @ 1970

NOBODY FROM SALTAIRE IN THE LAST FIFTY YEARS CAN FORGET LARRY MARCUS


THREE TIME CLUB COMMODORE; CC SAILOR; FRIEND OF ALL; ONE OF THE ALL TIME SALTAIRE GOOD GUYS






Picture by Dan Gallagher: Larry Marcus, Susan Marcus, Victor Kovner, and Ed Koch, 1976 (?)




SUNDAY IS THE THIRD ANNUAL MARCUS MEMORIAL LANDLUBBERS RACE

Skipper's Meeting 12:30
Race begins at 1PM -

This the 3rd annual Marcus Cup Race - It was instituted after Larry died in May, 2007

The last two years the weather has been great and the sailing was terriffic. Afterwards we usually sit around on the deck and have a few beers - its been a really nice tribute to a man so many people knew and admired.



Lets have a great time in his memory-- that's how Larry would have wanted it.


















Derf sez:
Dan's photos are amazing, but the last photo really seems to capture Larry Marcus, a truly wonderful man.

SNOW DAY OFF

Since it is a snow day and lots of people are making believe they can't get to work and are surfing the internet instead, why don't we get some Saltaire Stories up and written today?

Here is what it was like on the Great South Bay on ice snow days in 1903 off Bellport.

Suffolk County Historical Society, Fullerton Collection.

Above are known as "South Bay Scooters" Below are Peter Zendt and Ann Rasmussen on Peter's restored scooter "Scoot".

click images to enlarge

Doug Brewster built quite a number of military tug... Doug Brewster built quite a number of military tugboats under contract during WWII and then went on to fill the void by rebuilding ferries to keep up with Patterson's quest for speed which was contagious among ferry owners."Drying the Nets" was on the shoreline of what is now the east side of the Saltaire Terminal and the west side of Maple Avenue Marina. The open shed was a waiting room for the ferries into the 1950's. Wish I had a high res scan to be able to name the two ferries on the west side of the Maple Avenue dock.

---Frank Mina

THE BEST OF SALTAIRE SAILING II: PWC III AND FRANK MINA'S 'TUCK

"PWC III SAILING" by Frank Mina







FRANK MINA CONTRIBUTES THE PICTURES ABOVE AND THE WORDS BELOW:

Jim, Glad to hear from you.

The Narrasketuck was owned by me from 1972 until I sold it to dock builder Randy Ronback two years ago. It has been totally restored to look as it did in the photo. He now races it regularly out of Amityville. Paul Connelly III "borrowed" it for several seasons before he passed away. He paid to have a special sliding helmsman's bench installed as well a magnesium mast and new racing sails for #152. He was very competitive and well-regarded enough for the racing association to commission the cup in his memory. Paul's only lament was that he was never able to bring "home" a trophy for me.

Dick Gunther, an avid 'Tuck sailor -- also owner of "Socks" in our glory days of yesteryear -- traded me a handmade cedar mast for my metal one when they were hung side by side for wintering at my marina.

I still have one of the blue shirts embroidered with "Tirith" which Paul had made for all of his crew.

--Frank Mina

The Best of Saltaire Sailing: Mentors; Crew mates, and Fellow Goddard Trophy Laureates:

A veritable Hall of Fame of Saltaire Sailors recently encountered one another briefly in Saltaire:


click image to enlarge




Shown above from left: Lee Lapp, Patsy O’Shea (Skipper) and Adrian Lapp teamed up to win the Goddard Trophy in 1960, sailing the Sea Lapp. Far right, Edie Whitney Watts, the first ever Goddard Laureate, took the trophy as skipper of the Sambo in 1946.



Anchored in the distance is Charley and Will Lapp's sailboat, the Konstellation. They all still have that championship look.

Photo by Dick McManus

Courtesy Richard McManus

Photo Courtesy Edie Whitney Watts (at the helm) Late 1940's

HEROES AT LAST! THE CAPSIZERS SPEAK AFTER 51 YEARS

After 51 years of shame and ignominy, the crew that capsized the Puffin in front of the whole village in 1957, thereby changing the course of Saltaire Sailing history, emerge to tell their heroic story.

Goats no more! This heroic duo reveal below the secrets that proved the Puffin was too puny for the perils of the Great South Bay. Innumerable future capsizings, maybe even drownings were averted. A generation of happy healthy Saltaire youngsters would have been turned off from sailing if they had to sail the sad sack Puffin around the Bay.

Background: It was 1957 and somebody decided it was time to move on from the CC to something newer. The village sailing establishment perhaps bought the “Perfect Pitch” of some huckster who was peddling the Puffin as the “uncapsizable” boat of the future ideal for Saltaire youth. It was just a matter of formality for a score of Saltaire families to “sign on the line” for the delivery of a fleet of Puffins for the 1958 season. So on Labor Day, 1957 the demonstration was to be held. The whole village tramped out on the dock after the Labor Day ceremonies at the Yacht Club, check books in hand to watch two of Saltaire’s best sailors demonstrate the uncapsizable Puffin. This was the first act of the coming 1960’s: kids prove they were not afraid to challenge the unchallenged decisions of the older generation.

This is their story, In Their Own Write:


Patsy O'Shea






THE MYSTERY OF THE PUFFIN CAPSIZING SOLVED
by Patsy O’Shea

A moment of ignominy which turned out to be a service to the community instead.

The Puffin was capsized by Mary Parmelee and Patsy O'Shea in the summer of 1957 in front of a crowd of prospective buyers for the Puffin who stood on the dock watching us. Prior to our sail, nobody gave us any information or understanding of how this boat was radically different than the CCs (Cape Cods) we were used to. The wind that day was very strong and coming from the southwest. We were sailing right in front of the prospective buyers and curious onlookers lined up on the dock, about 75 yards away We had just been out a few minutes. Mary was the skipper, holding the tiller at the time that big wind gust hit us, and I was holding the sheets for the main sail and the jib. I was really surprised how tipsy that boat was relative to the wooden Cape Cods we were used to sailing. I'm not sure if it would have helped if Mary had adjusted by pushing the tiller away from her, “heading up” and therefore the boat up into the wind where its sails could lose wind. Perhaps she did. But I suspect there was simply no time to do this. Big gust, at least 25 knots, probably higher. The boat heeled so fast, I remember watching the water coming over the starboard gunnel, and thinking with surprise "Oh, Oh!!I" I didn’t dump the gust's air quickly enough from the main sail, and over we went. I remember feeling very calm and quiet, and also the warm feeling of the bay water, as I slipped in. Then I saw all the dangling lines and mast in the blur of the water. Enough to warn me to dive deep underwater, under all the lines, and sails before resurfacing, and to swim plenty wide of the boat and all the paraphernalia. Thanks to the rigorous training in swimming that Uncle Pete demanded of us for our Life Guard Certificate, swimming away underwater was easy, relaxed and freeing for me. But I was a bit embarrassed to surface!! Truthfully, my reacting quicker on the main, would have kept us upright, so I honestly hold myself accountable for the capsizing. Not Mary, the skipper.

That summer Mary was the skipper of the Parmelee CC boat, Calcutter II, in all the races, and I was her crew for the Series cup, also known as the Goddard Trophy. We were chosen to be the demonstrators most likely as a result of the suggestion of some of the adults in the Sailing Committee. We had just won the Goddard Trophy that year. This trophy was given for the highest total point score in all the races accumulated throughout the season. We, therefore, seemed like the best young sailors to demonstrate the coming technology: the fiberglass boat with Dacron sails. BIG MISTAKE...at least for the Puffin salesman!!

The CC (Cape Cod) boats were made of cedar wood, and had cotton sails with three battens in the main. They had a boom that was extremely long, just about the same length as the mast. One of the characteristics of this boat was a great stability on the bay. It had ballasts made of cement, under the floor boards which you could move around as necessary to balance the boat while on various tacks. Good movement of the weight of people and the ballasts was one of the techniques for gaining time during a leg of a race to win. It also had a fairly shallow rudder and a quick-moving relatively shallow centerboard that enabled us to work the shoals to take advantage when tides were strongly against us. The CC had an extremely heavy weather helm; and it took considerable force to steer it. In fact, sometimes the skipper had to put two hands on the tiller. When Mary and I undertook the demonstration, we were completely uninformed about the nature of the Puffin. It was so light; the tiller had little weather helm, the nylon ropes felt strange in my hands. The mast was tall, relative to the boom, so the shape of the main sail was less forgiving to a big gust of wind. Neptune came and blew our youthful pride away. We were two young, naive sea maidens. What more can I say??

We kept those buyers from buying. The Puffin was tubby and flippy, a bad choice for the Great South Bay, in my humble opinion. Only the Ervins and Stones bought one. Everyone else walked away. Around this time, the Tom Connolly family invested in an impressive 18 foot long CC Rhodes 18, called the Wahoo. Swift and light, made of fiberglass with Dacron sails, it was beautiful, and had a wonderful ping when the halyards hit the aluminum mast. But it was costlier, and faster than the CC’s which meant it had a handicap, and the ultra-competent Connolly boys had to sail “alone.” They missed out on the delicious things we did among the CC’s to steal each other’s wind or scoot in close to a buoy and ace out another boat. Later the CC Mercury was introduced. Richie McManus has written earlier in a June blog about Saltaire sailing history, that it was his father, Dr. Dick, (a sailing partner of my own father, Carbery who played crew on the jib to Dr. Dick’s skippering) brought the boat to Saltaire. It was made of fiberglass, also with Dacron sails. It was a little longer, sleeker, and more stable than the Puffin, and more comfortable to seat 3 people. The O'Sheas finally bought their own family boat, a Mercury. My mother, Genevieve, usually thought of as the mother of 8 children, but really a poet and artist, named it Tern. If you watch a tern fly, and then watch a puffin fly, you know why Saltairians invested in the Merk. Of course, the capsizing demonstration might have played into their decisions too. . .

Patsy O’Shea

P.S. I want to thank Jean Parmelee, who taught Mary Parmelee lots of sailing tricks, and Mary, who taught me. Later, in 1960, I got to skipper the Lapp boat and won the coveted Goddard trophy, this time as skipper, not crew. I want to thank Natalie Lapp, my first mate, who always let the main run out just right. We never had a gooseneck jibe in her capable hands. I thank Adrienne too, who controlled the jib, so tightly on a point, and also willingly shifted her weight and ballasts to enable us to run, rather fly, before the wind, and use the shoals to beat our competition. And thanks to both of you for backing the jib so heartily, despite discomfort, when we were on a running leg and also for moving to the bow with such trust in me.

The best Saltaire historian of the early program with CCs , by far, would be Edie Whitney Watts. I hope one of her tech savvy sons or daughter will get her to write it. Also Patti Connelly and Jeanne won lots of races, so Patti McAllister is a major memory source and a very capable sailor. The Connellys won the Goddard Trophy more than once.

Besides Richie McManus, other sources of knowledge of the sailing program, as it evolved in Saltaire, would be Jerry & Carol Hopkins, Jill Imray Shapard, Richie Miller, Kathleen O’Shea Alexander, Jean Parmelee, Mary Parmelee Ried and Louise Parmelee Sylvester, Kathy (now known as Katia) McManus Buchler Lund, John O’Shea, Sheila O ’Shea Gibbens, Dionnys Miller, Billy Ervin, Charlie Lapp and brothers Will and Joe, and sisters Natalie, Adrienne and Teresa, Jonathan Leigh, Gregg and Mark Dietrich, Angus Jameson, Patrick McElhone, and undoubtedly some others I don’t yet know. I hope some more of you will write about your sailing. It’s fun conjuring up these memories. Awakening these neurons will keep us all young!

Mary Parmelee Ried…when you read this account do you have anything to add? Your obedient crew, Patsy O’Shea


THE MYSTERY OF THE PUFFIN CAPSIZING SOLVED
by Mary Parmelee


The mystery of the famous capsizing of the Puffin is solved! Mary Parmelee (that would be me), having just become famous as the winner of the prestigious Saltaire sailing trophy, was asked by the Puffin sales rep to take a test sail while a crowd of onlookers watched. The salesman boasted that the Puffin could not be capsized, but only yards off the dock I proved him wrong. I have lived in fear of revenge of the manufacturer ever since. Patsy O’Shea called me up recently to tell me about this wonderful blog. I now want to go back more than ever.

Mary Parmelee Reid

RICHARD MCMANUS, sailing a 28 footer up north these days, adds to the growing chorus of praise for the Capsizers:

"I absolutely agree with all Patsy and Mary said---and I TOTALLY am glad that the Puffin didn't make it in Saltaire. It was a gruesome boat to sail upwind against tide, and it would have turned off many potential sailors. BTW if you google Cape Cod Mercury OR CC Knockabout you will find a LOT of listings. You can't find the Puffin sailboat anywhere. It was not beloved sufficiently to leave an internet mark. GREAT SAILING ladies, and thanks for all the history prior to the Mercury infestation. I recall the lead ballast in the CC's but I DID NOT realize there was also cement. That was an awesome boat!

Richard McM.

**************************************************************************
Editors’ note:

Q: why did it take 51 years to break this story?
A: The answer is simple: there has never been a website as perceptive as Saltaire38.blogspot. com

Reveal your stories here too. Contact us. Confession is good for the soul. Even after 51 years, it is not too late.

George “Derf” Fontanals
Jim O’Hare co editors.


Vote here:

Was the 1957 Puffin capsizing the disaster the older generation thought it was, or was it a service to the Village?
Are the crew goats or heroes?
Register your comments below by clicking the word “comments.”


Saltaire38.blogspot.com

We report.
You decide

COMING MONDAY: THE UNTHINKABLE HAPPENS IN 1957: THE RUSSIANS LAUNCH SPUTNICK AND THE PUFFIN CAPSIZES IN SALTAIRE

Among the great mysteries of SALTAIRE Maritime History are:


What caused the “uncapsizable” Puffin to capsize in front of hundreds of prospective buyers on Labor Day in 1957?

This was the same year that America's sense of technical superiority would be given a body blow by the Soviets' launch of Sputnick, while the American attempts to launch a satellite would explode on the launching pad:

Here in Saltaire, America's newfangled sailing technology, the fiberglass hull sailboat, would be on display and on sale. It was trumpeted to the village as the safe dream boat of the future for the village's corps of young sailors.

Kids' safety was always of first concern in this Village of big families and "Happy, healthy Saltaire Youngsters." A Village that had come of age after the Hurricane of 1938. A Village that in 1954 had suffered the scourge of a polio epidemic. Yes, the Village had known tragedy, and had always come back stronger than ever. Now scores of Villagers, checkbooks in hand, came out to see a live demonstration of the marvels of the the UNCAPSIZABLE PUFFIN, the sail boat designed with safety in mind.



A score of families were about to sign on the dotted line to buy their own Puffin. It was just a matter of a brief sailing demonstration, using real Healthy Happy Saltaire Teenagers as the crew.

The whole dock was filled with spectators.
The Puffin sailed from the dock.

In thirty seconds flat it was upside down.

Checkbooks back in thier pockets, the crowd walked off the dock and went home to pack to leave the Village. It was Labor Day.

There would be no fleet of New Puffins in 1958. It changed the sailing preferences of Saltairians for generations.

The crew survied, but have never told their story. Only now, after 51 years can their whole story be told, In their own write. And only here at Saltaire38.blogspot.com

What was the weather?
What were the sailing conditions?
Who were the crew?
Was it scuttled?
The controversy lives on. Check this blog Monday, August 11 for the controversial true confession: The capsizing of the Uncapsizable Puffin:


After 51 years the crew comes forward to describe that terrible day.

COMING MONDAY, AUGUST 11 Only on: http://www.saltaire38.blogspot.com/

JOH/Derf, editors

Trolling for Bluefish In Fire Island Inlet

Picture above from Harpers, courtesy of Jeff Weinlandt's boss.


Similar scene, different artist:

click to enlarge image

HY S. WATSON (1868-1933) was a pupil of Thomas Eakins and of Laurens when he studied in Paris. A Member of the "Society of Illustrator's," Watson's specialty was outdoor subjects -game, fish and hunting. Watson resided in NYC. He drew illustrations for Scribner's magazine in the early 1900's.

This print is from a State of New York Annual Report of the Commissioners of Fisheries, Game and Forests appearing between 1895 and 1906.

Print below: an old postcard