Dear Greg:

I read with interest the discussions regarding the "Florida" boats, round bilge, deep vee, et al. can't comment on the development of that species in Florida, as I grew up in Virginia, but you might find the following of interest historically if my recollections are accurate.

My family moved from Miami to Norfolk in 1941. I was 5 years old. Our family belonged to the Biscayne Bay Yacht Club, where my brother Lee raced moths. He won a regatta in which the first prize was a Cates Moth. We moved shortly afterwards to Va. where Lee raced it fairly successfully (he and George Loeb are contemporaries).

Anyway, around 1946 I began sailing, and got my first boat in '47; a copy of the Cates my brother built for me. It was HEAVY!!! He made it out of 1/2" plywood. Dead last in every race I sailed.

Around that time Dorr Willy was building moths and had built a round bilge boat for Ben Colane, whose Dad owned Collana Ship yard. It was without a doubt the most beautiful boat I had ever seen. Dorr built several other round bilge boats.

David "Peahead" Pritchardform Portsmouth, also built round bilge boats. Two of them were sisters, "Spellbound" and "Knockdown" Number 757, the latter which I owned for many years 'till moving on to the Hampton Class.

Deep vee boats were also in evidence. The range of designs was very broad at this time 1945 ~ 1949, until the Dorr Willy boat began to dominate the gold. This lasted a few years until the Florida sailors came to the Internationals in Norfolk (NYCC) around 1954+-, and took the glory with their quick planning ability. That's another story in its self.

As a development class the Moth encouraged all sorts of designs that spanned the imagination. square chine, round bilge, vee bottom, narrow hull, wide hull, flat bottom, wood boats, canvas boats, plywood, and in '49 the "first" fiberglass boat. The scantlings were same as a wood boat which resulted in a boat that weighed about 300 lbs. I was too young in those days right after the war to know too much about who was building what, but George Loeb could fill in the blanks for those years, and correct my recollections.

Good sailing to all,

John Wade

Wilson Wright Writes:

Dear John:

Wonder if your brother knew any of the peasants who lived up on the North end of Biscayne Bay and kept boats around the Legion Home at 67th St or at Doc Flipse's place at 69th St. The Rains Came and some other moths were up there...In 1941 I was 11 so... older than you but perhaps closer to your brothers age. We went to Morningside Elementary and then on to Edison.

There was also a fleet of Moths at Gulfsteam race track. I sailed one for a short time...Wrote Jimmy Donn Jr. to see if he knew of their whereabouts but he said no.

Wilson Wright,

Tallahassee