Building Whirlwind II, a 26’ cat boat based on the designs of long island boatbuilder Gil Smith, is a journey filled with craftsmanship, storied design and beautiful results.
Founder of The Avenue Concept, a Providence-based public art nonprofit, Yarrow Thorne was racing boats with his friend and designer, Ezra Smith when he started to develop an interest in cat boats. Ezra, who is also co-owner of Newport Yacht Builders, has known Yarrow since they attended RISD together. Yarrow recalled parts of their conversation, “And he’s like ‘Oh yea, Gil Smith’s, those are the most beautiful boats ever designed!’. And then he says ‘I’ve always dreamed about building one of these. What would the process be?”
“It was always in my blood to go to sea and to learn how to sail,” said Yarrow. Not only was sailing in his bloodline, but so were catboats. “I learned through storytelling and archival work that my dad’s great grandfather had a big cat boat, Gussum, which he converted into a power boat.”
So Yarrow and Ezra started to do some research.
They traveled to Long Island to study Gil Smith’s designs and pour over what was left of Gil Smith’s works in the Long Island Maritime Museum, as well as a thesis paper on Gil Smith and his designs.
“Suddenly we had this big Gil Smith database.” Says Ezra. “One [boat] stood out. It was this boat called Mariam, a boat Gil Smith built for himself and named it after his own wife. He built it and sold it before he ever sailed it, and the guy who bought it raced it and won every single race.”
Ezra had just finished a project with Artisan Boatworks in Rockport, Maine and knew that Alec Brainerd, the owner of the business, was the perfect boat builder for this 26-foot project. “He is an absolute artist,” he said.
They brought Moore Brothers onboard (pardon the pun) to build her a carbon mast and gaff, which included designing a laminate to match the bend characteristics of a conventional wood Gaff, which was paired with her Nat Wilson paneled sail. The mast and gaff were also painted at Moore Brothers by local artist John Sheehan to replicate wood, keeping with the traditional theme of the project.
Yarrow decided to call her Whirlwind II in honor of a boat that his great-grandfather, Landon K. Thorne, commissioned and helmed to defend the America’s Cup against repeat challenger Sir Thomas Lipton back in 1930. Sadly, she was not the fastest boat in that race, but Yarrow wanted to name this new boat in honor of her because of the innovation and experimentation he knew would go into it.
For anyone unfamiliar with Gil Smith, he began his boatbuilding career in 1876 and built inexpensive, shoal-draft boats for the oyster and clam tongers of Great South and Shinnecock Bays on Long Island. He placed the masts in his boats a lot more forward, and tucked the rudder under the counter, rather than hanging it off the stern. Unlike other catboats, the beam on Smith’s boats was narrow, less than half the length. This made for a boat that was quick, agile, and able to bring oysters and clams back to shore a lot quicker, often beating contemporary Nathanael Herreshoff’s designs.
They were also extremely beautiful.
Unfortunately, Smith’s boats faded into history (he produced around 400 boats between 1876 to 1939 and never used power tools) and only a few replicas of his boats were made over the years. In building Whirlwind II, the team started with little other than a set of misleading hull lines found in a magazine article, and luckily a half hull model. “There were no drawings to go off of, but there was a half hull model,” Ezra said they took the dimensions of the half hull and made a 3D scan of the boat. “The one thing we don't know, because the original boat is gone forever, is whether Gill Smith followed his half hull model accurately.”
What followed next was a design and build process that required constant tweaks and communication between the whole team.
“The process is so important to Yarrow,” said Jacques Swart, sales director at Moore Brothers. “That is what he wants to capture on this boat.”
Director of Moore Brothers Company, Oliver Moore already knew Yarrow from sailing International 14’s and was happy to work on a project with him and Ezra, with whom he already had a working relationship. “Ezra knew that the carbon mast was the right thing for it,” he recalled. Although a carbon mast certainly isn’t what Gil Smith sailed with, it seemed right to equip her with one.
“Back in his day, the Gil Smith catboats were totally cutting edge. They were using the most modern stuff out there and they were pushing the limits of what was possible with modern technology. I think it is fitting to add some of that back into it. It doesn’t all have to be exactly like it was,” Oliver said.
With a carbon fiber mast, obviously she would be lighter and (hopefully) sail better.
“So this is like leveling up to fulfill the goal of easy sail management and oftentimes shorthanded sailing, and comfort,” said Jacques.
Whirlwind II went out for a sea trial in Maine just last month and she performed beautifully. Her more public maiden voyage will take place in the spring of 2025.
Moore Brothers recently completed a similarly unique project for a boat called Wisp. Jacques sees projects like these as a wonderful complement to the other work coming out of the Moore Brothers shop.
“Given my involvement in Maine with these boats for 40 odd years, people that build a custom wooden boat in Maine–they are typically not your mainstream boat owner that's going to buy a premade Jeneau, or Beneteau at the boat show. These are all people with something very specific in mind. They often enjoy tradition and craftsmanship and seek that out,” he said. “The whole idea of fulfilling a dream and creating a legacy is very much real for these types of projects. And many of them end up in Maine because the craftsmanship, the mindset, it still exists.”
Jacques noted an important part of the process is respecting and honoring that artistry when collaborating with the designers, builders and clients. “You have to understand what the project is about, where they are coming from, and with that you understand where they’re trying to go.”
Alec Brainerd of Artisan Boatworks (who also built Wisp) says he also enjoyed being part of the Whirlwind II project. “It's fascinating to me just how much technology can be applied to these classic restorations and replicas. I call it the cutting edge of obsolete technology.”