Sample Articles From WoodenBoat Magazine

  • by Tim Clark

    BLACKJACK, a 33′ Friendship sloop built in 1900 by Wilbur Morse, sails in her home waters of Rockland, Maine. She was extensively restored by professionals and volunteers at the Sail, Power & Steam Museum, which is her new home.
  • by Kaci Cronkhite

    Like many wooden boat owners, the author kept expenses down by doing as much of the restoration work as she could on her own, taking advantage of the fact that Port Townsend’s Boat Haven facility permits maintenance by owners.
  • by Bruce Halabisky

    When I first met with Kit Pingree, she was midway through a three-week haulout of her 78′ motor vessel, TEAL. Between forecasts of rain showers, the first warmish days of the northwest spring had made an appearance, lending urgency to the varnishing and painting schedules and a long list of other tasks.
  • by Arista Holden

    The crew was composed of eight students from the Fosen Folkhøgskole (folk school) in Rissa, which offers yearlong courses in the traditional folk arts including boatbuilding, sailing, farming, self-sufficiency, and crafts. The sailing students sail throughout the winter in a fleet of Fosen-built Åfjørd’s boats including four-oared færings and larger fembørings.
  • by Tom Jackson

    On a mountain trail, pace-by-pace progress over hours sometimes leads to a viewpoint from which the altitude achieved suddenly becomes spectacularly clear. Something similar is going on now in custom wooden yacht construction, as exemplified by two projects currently underway in Maine boatyards that show just how much the boatbuilding industry has changed.
  • by Matthew P. Murphy

    CAPRICE and GHOST were part of the 28-boat Sound Interclub fleet built by Henry B. Nevins during the winter of 1925–26. The class raced on Long Island Sound for more than a decade before being eclipsed by the larger International One Design.
  • by Tom Jackson

    Among the dramatic changes during the MAYFLOWER II reconstruction has been the complete replacement of her rigging, reducing weight aloft by about one-third. The standing rigging is of Mystic Three Strand, made by New England Rope.
  • Text by Evelyn Ansel · Photographs by Alison Langley

    The Gold Cup—the oldest trophy in motor­sports racing—was first contested in 1904 on the Hudson River, where the winner averaged just a little over 23 mph. Offered by the American Power Boat Association (APBA), the prize is still being contested today.
  • Text and photographs by Tyler Fields

    For now, LIBELLULE is the largest catboat Arey’s Pond Boat Yard has built, and she’s the latest addition to a résumé of boats that has shown increases in size with each commission.
  • by Lawrence W. Cheek
    Photographs by Greg Gilbert

    Eighteen years ago, owner John Lisicich discovered the skeleton of a rare runabout—A Fairliner Torpedo—in the Gig Harbor, Washington, shop of boatbuilder Bruce Bronson. He purchased what was left of the boat, and over the next decade made monthly payments on an eventual restoration.