It's been about 37 weeks since I last posted a boat of the week, so when I learned about a boat with an interesting name today on Twitter that I had never heard of before, I knew it was time to bring back the old theme. Amphibi-cons are known as the first boat designed from scratch as a trailer-able cruising boat. We like anything that can be labeled as a first boat.
I like the story behind these boats, not just for the unique name, but for the no-nonsense approach to their design. They were designed by two men in the early 1950s - E. Farnham Butler (owner of the Mount Desert Yacht Yard) and Cyrus Hamlin (a naval architect) - with being pulled by a trailer in mind. That wasn't common for sailboats 50 years ago. Also, they had a shallow draft, making it convenient to navigate New England's rocky coastline.
All-in-all, the various sites and forums I visited to learn about this schooner brought me to the conclusion that an Amphibi-con would be a fun and practical coastal cruiser for day trips with a small crew. Best of all, they are reportedly not very expensive to buy or maintain, though owning any wooden boat is a major labor of love. Please comment if you own or have seen any of these beautiful boats.
There were 123 of these boats built. Three were fiberglass, one was cold molded but all the rest were strip planked per the prints. History and data on the boats as well as many pictures and comments are on the association website.
ReplyDeleteJim Vibert
Secretary
The Amphibi-Con Association
www.amphibicon.com
Thanks for the comment Jim. I hope I captured the story of the boats accurately. If not, folks can check out the official Amphibi-Con site
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