Gordon K. "Sandy" Douglass (October 22, 1904 – February 12, 1992) was an American
racer,
designer
A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans.
In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, products, processes, laws, games, graphics, services, or exp ...
, and
builder
Builder may refer to:
* Construction worker, who specializes in building work
* Carpenter, a skilled craftsman who works with wood
* General contractor, that specializes in building work
** Subcontractor
* Builder (detergent), a component of mode ...
of
sailing dinghies
Dinghy sailing is the activity of sailing small boats by using five essential controls:
* the sails
* the foils (i.e. the daggerboard or centreboard and rudder and sometimes lifting foils as found on the Moth)
* the trim (forward/rear angle of ...
. Two of his designs, the
Thistle
Thistle is the common name of a group of flowering plants characterised by leaves with sharp prickles on the margins, mostly in the family Asteraceae. Prickles can also occur all over the planton the stem and on the flat parts of the leaves ...
and the
Flying Scot, are among the most popular
one design racing classes in the United States. The Flying Scot was inducted into the
American Sailboat Hall of Fame
The American Sailboat Hall of Fame is a defunct hall of fame honoring 26 production sailboats built-in the United States. The hall of fame was established in 1994 by Sail America, a trade association for the U.S. sailing industry, to recognize in ...
. As a small boat racer, Douglass was five times the North American champion in the
10 Square Meter International Sailing Canoe, five times the United States national champion in the Thistle, and seven times the Flying Scot North American champion.
Personal life
Douglass was born in 1904, in
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat, seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County and the second largest city within the New Yo ...
. His father, George P. Douglass, was a real estate manager who became manager of
The Dakota
The Dakota, also known as the Dakota Apartments, is a cooperative apartment building at 1 West 72nd Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The Dakota was constructed between 1880 and 1884 in the Renaissance ...
, an apartment building in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
, moving the family there in 1920. His father was a champion sailing canoe racer, and Douglass' sailing experience started in his youth. His family vacationed in the
Thousand Islands
The Thousand Islands (french: Mille-Îles) constitute a North American archipelago of 1,864 islands that straddles the Canada–US border in the Saint Lawrence River as it emerges from the northeast corner of Lake Ontario. They stretch for ab ...
region of the
Saint Lawrence River
The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting ...
, eventually buying a small island there.
[
Douglass went to prep school at Collegiate School in New York City, then to ]Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...
, graduating in 1926.[ His athletic pursuits included college ]gymnastics
Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, s ...
, canoe paddling
A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle.
In British English, the term ...
, ice boat
An iceboat (occasionally spelled ice boat or traditionally called an ice yacht) is a recreational or competition sailing craft supported on metal runners for traveling over ice. One of the runners is steerable. Originally, such craft were boats ...
ing, and sailing canoe racing.[ He qualified for the ]Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
national canoe paddling team, but was not allowed to go to the 1936 Olympics 1936 Olympics may refer to:
*The 1936 Winter Olympics, which were held in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
*The 1936 Summer Olympics
The 1936 Summer Olympics ( German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI ...
because he was American.[ Douglass befriended English boat designer and racer, ]Uffa Fox
Uffa Fox, CBE (15 January 1898 – 26 October 1972) was an English boat designer and sailing enthusiast, responsible for a number of innovations in boat design. Not afraid of courting controversy or causing offense, he is remembered for his e ...
, whom he met through sailing canoe racing.[
]
Career
After false starts at selling Buick
Buick () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Started by automotive pioneer David Dunbar Buick in 1899, it was among the first American marques of automobiles, and was the company that established General ...
s and painting portraits, Douglass took up boat building
Boat building is the design and construction of boats and their systems. This includes at a minimum a hull, with propulsion, mechanical, navigation, safety and other systems as a craft requires.
Construction materials and methods
Wood
W ...
in 1938. At several shops in Ohio
Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...
, he built sailing canoes, International 14's, Interlakes
The Interlakes, also known as the Interlakes District, is a geographic region of the Interior of British Columbia, Canada, located along and around the Interlakes Highway between 100 Mile House on BC Highway 97 and Little Fort on the North Thom ...
, and Stars
A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...
.[
After a wartime job as a lofter for a ]shipbuilding
Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other Watercraft, 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 roo ...
company, Douglass designed the Thistle in 1945.[ Influenced by Uffa Fox's International 14 design, and built using the innovative molded plywood technique, the Thistle quickly caught on with dinghy racers.][
In 1949, Douglass designed the ]Highlander
Highlander may refer to:
Regional cultures
* Gorals (lit. ''Highlanders''), a culture in southern Poland and northern Slovakia
* Hill people, who live in hills and mountains
* Merina people, an ethnic group from the central plateau of Madagascar
...
, a racing dinghy still sailed in the US south and midwest
The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. ...
.[ His goal was that it be stable and fast, and yet be family friendly, using a broader beam and harder bilges than in previous designs. He published plans in 1950, launched the first hull in 1951 and exhibited at the New York Boat Show in 1952. He raced his designs, both to promote them and the sport of dinghy sailing.][ His involvement with the Thistle and the Highlander ended in 1951 when he split with Ray McLeod, his business partner.][ Its wide beam and the prohibition of hiking straps were an effort to make the boat more competitive for smaller-sized people like Douglass and his wife, Mary, who crewed for him for 30 years.][Obituary, Mary T. Douglass, The Republican Newspaper (Oakland, Maryland), Accessed Nov. 19, 2007]
His dinghy designs incorporated then-novel features that later became standard for other types of high-performance racing dinghies, including hiking straps and dual-lead lines to both sides of the boat.
Retirement
Douglass moved his business to Oakland, Maryland
Oakland is a town in the west-central part of Garrett County, Maryland, United States. The town has a population of 1,925 according to the 2010 United States Census. The town is also the county seat of Garrett County and is located within the Pitt ...
, in 1958.[ Douglass retired in 1971 and sold the company. The successor company, Flying Scot, Inc., still builds Flying Scots in Oakland. Douglas died in 1992.][ He wrote an autobiography, ''Sixty Years Behind the Mast: The Fox on the Water'', in 1986. Among his hobbies was barbershop singing.]
References
External links
1933 - The Year of the International Challenge Cup ~ from Gordon K. (Sandy) Douglas Sixty Years Behind the Mast - The Fox on the Water ~
{{DEFAULTSORT:Douglass, Gordon K.
1904 births
1992 deaths
American yacht designers
Sportspeople from Newark, New Jersey
People from Oakland, Maryland
20th-century American architects
20th-century American businesspeople
Businesspeople from Newark, New Jersey