use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) -->
, death_place =
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American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
, education =
, alma_mater =
, occupation =
Naval architect This is the top category for all articles related to architecture and its practitioners.
{{Commons category, Architecture occupations
Design occupations
Architecture, Occupations ...
, years_active =
, era =
, employer =
, organization =
, known_for =
sailboat
A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails and is smaller than a sailing ship. Distinctions in what constitutes a sailing boat and ship vary by region and maritime culture.
Types
Although sailboat terminology ...
designs
, party =
, spouse = Jean "Doodle" Searing
, children =
, parents =
, mother =
, father = Frank Hess
, relatives =
, family =
, awards =
Lyle C. Hess (1912–2002) was an
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
naval architect This is the top category for all articles related to architecture and its practitioners.
{{Commons category, Architecture occupations
Design occupations
Architecture, Occupations ...
, particularly known for his Aquarius and Balboa series of boats, built by
Coastal Recreation
Coastal Recreation, Inc was an American boat builder based in Costa Mesa, California. The company specialized in the design and manufacture of fiberglass sailboats designed by well-known naval architects, including Lyle C. Hess, Peter Barret ...
.
Early life
Hess was born in 1912, in
Blackfoot, Idaho, one of 12 children in his family. As a child Hess carved many toy, wooden boats. His father, Frank Hess, was a general construction contractor. Frank Hess helped build the Patterson Canal in
Jackson Hole, Wyoming and also did railway construction. Frank Hess then moved his family to
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
to pursue work.
Hess's first boat was designed and built in 1928, when he was 16 years old. It was a
cruiser
A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles.
The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several hu ...
with a
hard chine hull, named ''Viajera'', with a
length overall
__NOTOC__
Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, an ...
of , a
cuddy cabin and of lead ballast. It carried Hess and his brother, Lee Hess, to
Catalina Island, which lies off shore, more than 40 times in the three years he had the boat.
''Viajera'' was kept on a mooring offshore from the Chalker and Whiting Boatyard, run by George Chalker and Bill Whiting. These two master
shipwright
Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befor ...
s taught Hess much of the finer points of wooden boat construction. Hess also got to know designer
Edson B. Schock Edson may refer to:
Places Canada
* Edson, Alberta
United States
* Edson, Kansas, an unincorporated community
* Edson, South Dakota, a ghost town
* Edson, Wisconsin, a town
** Edson (community), Wisconsin, an unincorporated community
People Giv ...
, and gained an understanding of boat design.
Hess never had any formal training in boat design.
In 1938, at age 23, Hess married Jean "Doodle" Searing, a partner who shared his love of sailing. They went on to have four children together.
Second World War
During the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Hess became a
shipwright
Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befor ...
for Harbor Boatworks of
San Pedro, Los Angeles
San Pedro ( ; Spanish: " St. Peter") is a neighborhood within the City of Los Angeles, California. Formerly a separate city, it consolidated with Los Angeles in 1909. The Port of Los Angeles, a major international seaport, is partially located wi ...
where he was part of a team building wooden
motor torpedo boats and
minesweepers for the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
.
Design career
Following the end of the war, Hess moved his family to
Eureka, California
Eureka (Wiyot: ''Jaroujiji'', Hupa: ''do'-wi-lotl-ding'', Karuk: ''uuth'') is the principal city and county seat of Humboldt County in the Redwood Empire region of California. The city is located on U.S. Route 101 on the shores of Humboldt ...
where he worked for the Humbolt Bay Boat Co., constructing wooden fishing boats. He moved back to southern California and spend a year on the construction of steam-driven
tugboat
A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, su ...
s for customers in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
and
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
.
In 1946 he went on to found the LA Yacht Yard along with his business partner, Roy Barteaux. The yard was located in
Harbor City, California
Harbor City is a highly diverse neighborhood in the Harbor region of Los Angeles, California, with a population upward of 36,000 people. Originally part of the Rancho San Pedro Spanish land grant, the Harbor City was brought into Los Angeles as ...
. The first two boats built at the yard were Hess's designs, ''Westward Ho'', a
cutter-rigged boat and ''Lady Elizabeth'', a
motorsailer
A motorsailer is a type of motor-powered sailing vessel, typically a yacht, that can derive power from its sails or engine, independently from each other during moderate seas or winds. A motorsailer may have a sail-to-engine power ratio in the ra ...
for cinematographer
Ernest Palmer.
A customer named Hale Field commissioned a "character boat" cutter for cruising, based on the lines of British working sailboats, but the post-war scarcity of wood caused Field to ask for a reduced sized mode of just under . The boat was completed and launched as ''Renegade of Newport''. The design was reminiscent of Hess's ''Viajera'' and caused Hess to consider the concept of small cruising sailboats for people of average incomes.
By the early 1950s, with high costs of materials and labor, boat contracts were harder to find and it was not easy to earn a living to support his family. Hess left the business and sold his share to his business partner Barteaux, moving to house construction instead with his brother, Ray Hess, to take advantage of the post-war boom in housing demand, while still designing yachts in his spare time.
Canadian Larry Pardey started construction of a boat based on Hess's ''Renegade'' design, as Pardey was looking for a boat to circumnavigate the globe with his wife, Lin. Pardey introduced Hess to Richard Arthur, who owned Arthur Marine in
Costa Mesa, California
Costa Mesa (; Spanish for "Table Coast") is a city in Orange County, California. Since its incorporation in 1953, the city has grown from a semi-rural farming community of 16,840 to an urban area including part of the South Coast Plaza–John Wa ...
. Arthur asked Hess to design a small, budget cruising sailboat in a new material,
fiberglass
Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cloth ...
and the result was the
Balboa 20
The Balboa 20 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Lyle C. Hess as a cruiser, at the request of Richard Arthur and first built in 1967.Henkel, Steve: ''The Sailor's Book of Small Cruising Sailboats'', page 84. Internationa ...
design, Arthur put it into production in 1967. That was followed in 1969 by production of Hess's
Balboa 26
The Balboa 26 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Lyle C. Hess as cruiser and first built in 1969.
Production
The design was initially built by Arthur Marine starting in 1969. It was then built by Coastal Recreation in ...
design also at Arthur Marine. The success of the Balboa 20 allowed Hess to move to designing yachts on a full time basis and the
Ensenada 20, based upon the Balboa 20 hull with a new coach house top, soon followed.
Coastal Recreation
Coastal Recreation, Inc was an American boat builder based in Costa Mesa, California. The company specialized in the design and manufacture of fiberglass sailboats designed by well-known naval architects, including Lyle C. Hess, Peter Barret ...
assumed production of the designs in the mid-1970s.
Reviewer David Liscio described the Balboa 26 in a 2017 ''Sailing Magazine'' review, as "a trailerable, stoutly-constructed, economical cruising boat ideal for a couple or small family planning to gunkhole or sail the open sea."
The success of the modified Renegade design for Larry Pardee, the ''Seraffyn'', resulted in a number of articles about the boat, as Pardee and his wife sailed it around the world and this brought Hess a degree of fame. The design was developed into the
Bristol Channel Cutter
The Bristol Channel Cutter, also called the Bristol Channel Cutter 28, is an American sailboat that was designed by Lyle Hess as a "character boat" cruiser and first built in 1976.
The boat is based upon Hess's earlier ''Renegade'' design.
P ...
"character boat" in 1976 and production by the Sam L. Morse Company which was formed in Costa Mesa, California to build the boat.
Hess quickly became an expert in the design of seaworthy
trailer sailer
A trailer sailer is a type of sailboat that has been designed to be easily transported using a boat trailer towed by an automobile. They are generally larger than a sailing dinghy.Royce, Patrick M.: ''Royces Sailing Illustrated'', pages 52-57. Del ...
s and, as a result, was a designer in demand through the 1970s and 1980s. He considered the
Falmouth Cutter 34 his best design.
In the late 1970s Hess owned a Balboa 20 of his own, named ''Genesis'', which he and his wife regularly sailed to Catalina Island.
In one 1977 interview Hess stated, "as for me, even though there are many easier ways to earn a living, all I that ever wanted to do was design boats."
Death
Hess died in July 2002, at age 90.
Designs
Sailboats designed by Hess include:
*
Balboa 20
The Balboa 20 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Lyle C. Hess as a cruiser, at the request of Richard Arthur and first built in 1967.Henkel, Steve: ''The Sailor's Book of Small Cruising Sailboats'', page 84. Internationa ...
(1967)
*
Balboa 26
The Balboa 26 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Lyle C. Hess as cruiser and first built in 1969.
Production
The design was initially built by Arthur Marine starting in 1969. It was then built by Coastal Recreation in ...
(1969)
*
Kona 14 (1971)
*
Ensenada 20 (1972)
*
Montgomery 12 (1972)
*
RK 20
The RK 20 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Lyle C. Hess as a cruiser and first built in 1972.Henkel, Steve: ''The Sailor's Book of Small Cruising Sailboats'', page 126. International Marine/McGraw-Hill, 2010.
The RK ...
(1972)
*
La Paz 25
The La Paz 25 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Lyle C. Hess as a motorsailer and first built in 1973.Henkel, Steve: ''The Sailor's Book of Small Cruising Sailboats'', page 353. International Marine/McGraw-Hill, 2010.
...
(1973)
*
Montgomery 17 (1973)
*
Montgomery 17 FD (1975)
*
Balboa 27 8.2 (1976)
*
Bristol Channel Cutter
The Bristol Channel Cutter, also called the Bristol Channel Cutter 28, is an American sailboat that was designed by Lyle Hess as a "character boat" cruiser and first built in 1976.
The boat is based upon Hess's earlier ''Renegade'' design.
P ...
(1976)
*
Nor'Sea 27 (1976)
*
Aquarius 24 Pilot Cutter (1979)
*
Montgomery 23 (1979)
*
Montgomery 7-11
The Montgomery 7-11 is an American sailing dinghy that was designed by Lyle Hess as a daysailer.
The boat has a length overall of .
Production
The design was built by Montgomery Marine Products in Dana Point, California, United States, but i ...
*
Falmouth Cutter 22
The Falmouth Cutter 22 (often just referred to as the Falmouth Cutter) is an American sailboat that was designed by Lyle C. Hess as a cruiser and first built in 1980. The design is based on the traditional British Falmouth work boat.Sherwood, ...
(1980)
*
Falmouth Cutter 26
*
Falmouth Cutter 34 (1982)
*
Nor'Sea 37 (1992)
*
Fatty Knees (2000)
See also
*
List of sailboat designers and manufacturers
This is a list of notable sailboat designers and manufacturers, which are described by an article in English Wikipedia. Sailboat design and manufacturing is done by a number of companies and groups.
Notable designers
Sailboat designer articles i ...
References
External links
Obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hess, Lyle
Lyle Hess
1912 births
2002 deaths