Over the years,
much has been said and written about the origin and history of Friendship
sloops. While it’s perfectly natural to see them as something wonderful
from the past, there’s a lot to be said for building new ones –
particularly wooden ones – and enjoying them in the present.
And what about their
future?
The original Friendships were intended for fishing and lobstering, and
their design was adapted by local boatbuilders from sloops or “sloop
boats” already in use in the area around Muscongus Bay in Maine.
Some were built with centerboards to navigate shallow waters, others had
wet wells for use as lobster smacks, and yet others were built bigger
to go fishing offshore.
“The working Friendship was fully developed by about 1900,” says Charlie Burnham, the commodore of the Friendship Sloop Society. “Shortly after that motors came in, and sail declined very quickly. But that didn’t mean the Friendship didn’t continue to evolve. It started to become a yacht. A lot of them had their rigs cut down, while others were maintained in their original configuration. And there were always a few working boats that were sailed.”
The Friendship Sloop Society is a nonprofit organization that was incorporated in the State of Maine in April of 1961. The formation of the Society was actively promoted by Bernard MacKenzie of Scituate, Massachusetts, then owner of Voyager, which was registered as #1 in the roster. The 1961 Sloop Yearbook listed 22 members, and fourteen craft participated in their first annual race.
Social
and racing events were held in the town of Friendship until 1984, when
the need to accommodate a much larger fleet became apparent. The Society’s
activities were then moved to Boothbay Harbor, where they remained until
1995 when the annual Homecoming was moved even further down east to Rockland.
In addition to the annual regatta, the Society’s events include races in New London in early July for sloops located south of Cape Cod. There’s also an informal Southwest Harbor race held the weekend before the festivities begin at Rockland. And a longstanding racing series continues the events into August at the Corinthian Yacht Club in Marblehead, Massachusetts.
The annual gathering of sloops at Friendship Harbor following the regatta
and stopovers at the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath augment these activities.
The museum has joined in the society’s efforts to preserve records
and sloop design information. Storing records at Bath makes them accessible
year-round in a convenient location for enthusiasts and builders alike.
The museum is also home to one of the few Muscongus Bay sloops still in
existence, the Ranger, (shown here).
Thoroughly modern Friendships
Contemporary Friendships sloops are characterized by the blending of traditional
style with modern construction methods, equipment, and conveniences.
“Nowadays, many of the problems with wooden boats have been solved,”
Charlie Burnham says. “A lot of owners have gone over to a wooden
hull with a plywood-and-fiberglass deck. In those boats, you don’t
have leaking cabins, so they last a long time.
“People
started to build boats in fiberglass because it was perceived as being
the thing to avoid upkeep, but that’s not true because the motor
wears out the same as in a wooden boat, and the sails wear out the same
as on a wooden boat. All boats have problems, and I do think you have
less maintenance with the fiberglass as far as the hull is concerned,
but that’s only part of the picture.
“The next thing is the rig itself. The old Friendships were rigged the best you could do for a wooden boat – or for any sailing boat at the time. Now, they have roller furling for the jibs and the topsails. So although the rig is the same shape, the handling is a lot easier, and they sail pretty good.”
Charlie himself has switched over to roller furling in his boat, which makes it sailable by one person.
Who wants to build a Friendship?
Amateur and professional boatbuilders alike can still build this boat
and make their own mark on it. And the Society is there to support them.
“Our constitution states that the purpose of the Society is the building and sailing of Friendship sloops, to provide a place to gather and have a good time around a common interest, and to promote the history and traditions of the Friendship Sloop,” Charlie notes.
“At the time we started, building was quite active. There were a number of wooden boats built or restored by professional boatbuilders, and there were also quite a few boats built at home. In the last few years, there haven’t been as many built, but there have been quite a number restored.
“One of the things the Society does is give a chance to someone who’s going to buy a boat or have a boat built or build it themselves to come to Rockland and see a bunch of boats and talk with people that are using them.
"The nice thing about a Friendship is that you can build one yourself, and you don’t need anything special. It’s a working boat, so you use things that last well in it. But they’re not necessarily outrageously expensive."
Charlie should know. He’s built not one but two Friendships.
“When I built the Resolute, which was a small boat, I found out that she wasn’t big enough,” he says, “so I built a bigger one. I didn’t ever want a real big boat, so I built what I thought was just ig enough for my family, although I did have too many kids in one bunk!”
The Society continues to encourage the building of Friendship sloops,
and anyone who is interested can become a member. Owning a sloop is not
a prerequisite.
Where are they now?
Since the Society’s founding in 1961, their official roster has
grown from 22 to about 275 boats. Members have devoted a great deal of
energy to tracking down as many existing sloops as possible (both new
and old) to identify their original builders, owners, and current locations.
The boat that was once found only on the coast of Maine can now be seen sailing throughout New England’s waters – and far beyond. Two of legendary Maine boatbuilder Ralph Stanley’s boats, for example, are in the UK and Sardinia (off the coast of Italy), and a Friendship from California was used for the filming of Jim Carrey’s 1998 movie “The Truman Show”. There are also Friendships in Chile and Australia.
A quick look at the Society’s registry page shows homeports as
interesting and diverse as:
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For the complete listing (which includes boats that have been lost or
destroyed over the years), visit www.fss.org/sloops.htm.
Back to the future
The well-known maritime writer and Maine historian Roger Duncan and his
wife Mary joined the Friendship Sloop Society the first year. For many
years, they owned and sailed the 32-foot sloop Eastward, and they are
still active members of the Society.
“People said it wouldn’t last for five years,” he says, “but it’s gone on for thirty, and I think that’s pretty encouraging. I would say that the Society has a life of its own, and it’s going to go along. There are a lot of young people coming up in it. The children of current boat owners will inherit those boats, or buy or build new ones in small numbers, and you’ll see it go along.
“Now they’re mostly going on the fiberglass models, but there are still people occasionally building their own wooden boats. It’s important for the Friendship sloops that they have an organization devoted to their enjoyment, preservation, and advancement.”
Roger doesn’t expect the basic design of Friendships to change in any dramatic way. “It’s pretty good the way it is,” he says.
His old friend Ralph Stanley, who is Maine’s boatbuilder laureate and probably the most prolific contemporary builder of wooden Friendship sloops, agrees. Whether building new boats or restoring older ones, he has “stuck with the lines of the original models pretty much,” as does his son Richard, who carries on the tradition and the business at their yard in Southwest Harbor.
“I haven’t tried to change the shape a great deal,” Ralph says. “With the old sloops that I’ve rebuilt, I’ve changed some of the construction and made it stronger. And we’ve used bronze fastenings instead of the old galvanized ones. We want to build a boat that will last.”
Nevertheless, there is still room for variation on a theme. Since 1979, Ralph has designed and built three 19-foot open cockpit boats that have been certified and accepted as Friendships by the Society. The first of these was Endeavor.
“When
I built Endeavor, I didn’t have much money, and I think it cost
me about $15,000 to build her back then. I worked on her myself, and some
of my crew worked on her. When I got her done, I had just rock ballast
in her. She was an open boat with a high platform in her, and I could
get a lot of rocks in her. She was almost full to the platform with rocks.
“The only disadvantage of that was, the rocks had to be taken out every couple of years and the boat had to be cleaned out. Over the years, we’ve taken the rocks out and put lead in her. It takes up a lot less space and gets her down lower, too. But with the rocks, she was fine.”
When asked what was most important for the continuance of Friendship
sloops, Ralph Stanley says, “I think the thing is to keep the boat
simple.”
My own view is that Friendship sloops will continue to evolve over time, driven by desire of the builder to produce a better boat and the wishes of the owner for a sturdy, comfortable vessel that meets their recreational and aesthetic needs.
Ultimately, the future of the Friendship sloop lies in the hands of the people (including enthusiastic backyard builders) who continue to restore, build, and sail these beautiful traditional sailboats – wherever they may be.
About the author
Craig Milner is the co-author of Ralph
Stanley: Tales of a Maine Boatbuilder, published by Down East
Books. An avid sailor, he has been a marine writer and photographer for
more than 30 years. Autographed copies are available by contacting him
at craig@craigmilnerdesign.com.
About the photos
All photos are courtesy of Craig Milner,
and, of course, are copyrighted. So, contact him if you need a copy. Here
is a listing of the photos—
Masthead —Morning Star and Freedom
Muscongus Bay Sloop—Ranger,
Ranger Diagram
Other Photos
—Acadia under sail, Roger F. Duncan and Ralph Stanley, Endeavor
rock ballast; Endeavor launch.
Resources/Links
Friendship Sloop Society:
For information about the organization and a schedule of 2005 events,
visit www.fss.org. The Society’s Annual
Yearbook and Guide is published in July, and a newsletter is published
three times a year to report on the group’s activities, which include
the Regatta in July and annual meeting in November.
Maine Maritime Museum: Founded in 1962, Maine Maritime Museum collects, preserves and interprets materials relating to the maritime history of Maine. The museum’s collection includes a rare original Muscongus Bay sloop on display in the Leon L. Bean lobstering shed. For information, visit www.bathmaine.com/programs.asp.
Wooden Boat Festival: Held annually in Port Townsend, Washington, this unique celebration of maritime skills and culture is the premier West Coast event for builders and enthusiasts alike. The Festival supports the year-round education programs of the Wooden Boat Foundation. For information, visit www.woodenboat.org/festival/index.htm.
The Wooden Boat Show: Sponsored by WoodenBoat
Magazine, this year’s event will be held at the Newport Yachting
Center in Rhode Island from August 26-28 2005. For information, visit
www.woodenboat.com.
Back Yard Yacht Builders
A non-commercial association of amateur boat-builder enthusiasts.
All our wooden boats are Stevenson designs.