A Winter Harbor 21 (also known as a Winter Harbor Knockabout) is a 31′0″ x 7′3″ one-design racing sloop designed and built by Burgess & Packard, of

Marblehead, Massachusetts Marblehead is a coastal New England town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, along the North Shore (Massachusetts), North Shore. Its population was 20,441 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The town lies on a small peninsu ...

, in 1907.

History

In 1906, Fredrick O. Spedden and George Dallas Dixon Jr., members of Maine's Winter Harbor Yacht Club commissioned

Starling Burgess William Starling Burgess (December 25, 1878 – March 19, 1947) was an American yacht designer, aviation pioneer, and naval architect. He was awarded the highest prize in aviation, the Collier Trophy in 1915, just two years after Orville Wright w ...

and his partner, Alpheus A. Packard to create a

one-design One-design racing is a racing method which may be adopted in sports using complex equipment, whereby all vehicles have identical or very similar designs or models, avoiding the need for a Handicapping, handicap system. Motorsport One-make racing ...

racing sloop for the club. Their firm, Burgess & Packard, produced the Winter Harbor 21, a knockabout. Seven boats were built by Burgess & Packard and launched in 1907. Two more boats were built by

George Lawley & Son George Lawley & Son was a shipbuilding firm operating in Massachusetts from 1866 to 1945. It began in Scituate, then moved to Boston. After founder George Lawley (1823–1915) retired in 1890, his son, grandson and great-grandson upheld the busin ...

in 1920 and 1924, bringing the total fleet to 9. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and the 1950s, the fleet was gradually sold and dispersed until only ''El Fitz'' and one other knockabout remained active at the Winter Harbor Yacht Club. In 1979, Alan Goldstein,

commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (India), in India ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ' ...

of the Winter Harbor Yacht Club, decided while sailing on one of the two remaining boats that he wanted one of his own. It took him two years of diligent searching before he discovered the boat ''Cloverly'' in poor condition rotting in a barn. After extensive rebuilding there were three Winter Harbor 21s racing once more in Winter Harbor. It took ten more years before the remaining six sloops had been found, restored and returned to Winter Harbor. It's thought that the Winter Harbor 21s are the oldest intact one-design racing sailboat fleet in the United States.

Boats and owners

*''Name'' – Year Built – color – owner *''Mystery'' – 1907 – pink – Dexter Coffin family *''Whippet'' – 1907 – white – Samuel Heffner Family – restored by Benjamin River Marine, Brooklyn, Maine *''Cloverly'' – 1907 – maroon – Dan Gans *''Riddle'' – 1907 – green – Chas Wiggins *''Water Witch'' – 1907 – yellow – Dexter Coffin Family – restored by Redd's Pond Boatworks and Marblehead Trading Company, Marblehead, Massachusetts *''Rambler II'' – 1907 – gray – Ben Irons *''Sphinx'' – 1907 – red-orange – Alex Mishkin *''Sole'' – 1922 – blue – Edith Dixon *''El Fitz'' – 1924 – varnish – Hilary Dixon Miller

References

* Victoria Reiter Goldstein, "The Fortunate Fleet: A century of Sailing in Winter Harbor Knockabouts". {{Marblehead, Massachusetts Marblehead, Massachusetts Sailing yachts 1900s sailboat type designs