Conversations with Classic Boats

Conversations with Classic Boats is a podcast about classic boat designs and the stories behind them. Hosted by Tom Darling, this episode travels to the Pacific Northwest for a “whodunnit” of classic keelboats.

Starting in Oyster Bay on Long Island Sound, the trail for the the most iconic keelboat class of the 1920s and 30s – the International Six Metre – extends to Bainbridge Island off Seattle, WA.

The featured boat in question is Goose, the 1938 S&S design thought to be the fastest boat of its time. Goose, along with other historic 6 meters, find an active and dedicated curator in the form of Peter Hofmann. It is there, off Puget Sound is the Port Madison Yacht Club, the epicenter of this remarkable restoration campaign.

One important design in the fleet is Saga, the 1931 Byrne Aas design thought to be the inspiration for the International One Design. Other classic boats like Djiin and LLanoria, born on Long Island Sound, have found a new home in Puget Sound.

Historic competitions like the British American Cup along with the Olympics were the driving force for the Six Metre. The podcast recounts the history of those events of the 1930s with more than 50 boats built over that decade.

Photos (click here) taken at the Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club in Oyster Bay show exquisite half models of the designs of Clinton Crane, Olin Stephens, and others. These models are a tribute to the story of when the Sixes in the 30s were the times of ‘sail to survive’.