This is the year of the catboat. The Catboat Association will be celebrating their 50th anniversary on the water. More than 100 catboaters are expected to attend their rendezvous at Mystic Seaport on the long weekend of July 6, 7 and 8.
But the season really runs well before and after that single momentus event.
Here on Martha's Vineyard there will be sailors visiting and enjoying these waters enroute to and from the event.
On the following weekend, July 13, 14, and 15, there is Vineyard Cup, a racing weekend in Vineyard Haven. Sailors from up and down the coast, in boats big and small, will be racing. The Martha's Vineyard Rendezvous will take place within the the sails of Vineyard Cup.
A catboat parade of sail is scheduled for Saturday morning at 9 a.m. Three Manuel Swartz Roberts catboats, the yountest over 80 years old, and the eldest over 100, will lead the parade. Classic sailboats, many of them wooden and made in Vineyard Haven will also parade. Racing is in late morning and is expected to take place into the afternoon. A reception will follow afterwards near the Black Dog Tavern.
This is Catboat Country. Catboats have been crisscrossing these waters for more than 150 years. They are convenient to sail. With one big sail, they are easier to handle. With a centerboard, they can sail safely through shallow waters. Many hundreds were built all along the shoreline.. A company called Crosby made cats in Osterville. Manuel Swartz Roberts built boats in Edgartown. There were so many other boatbuilders through the years. Marshall Marine still makes plenty of catboats today at their South Dartmouth headquarters and this year they are celebrating their 50th year.
Today, looking across the waterfront there are so many different cats. They are made of wood, composite and fiberglass. Though their personalities may be differ from boat to boat, their design hasn't changed much in over a century of sailing. The building materials, their cloth, and their lines have changed. It is often said, but always thought, sailing one of these boats is like stepping back in time.
Many of the catboat sailors will be sailing with the Catboat Association's Cape Cod Chapter burgee. There are a number of events planned for the year ahead. Below we've got a list of all the rendezvous we know about.
July 14
Martha's Vineyard Catboat Rendezvous / Vineyard Cup, Mark Alan Lovewell
P.O. Box 2034, Vineyard Haven, MA 02568
Email: mark@markalanlovewell.com
(508)696-4655
July 21
Squeteague Harbor, Cataumet, MA
John Greene, Howard Crow
4 Anne Circle, Sandwich, MA 02563
(508) 944-0465
Email: JohnGreene4@comcast.net,
hcrow@earthlink.net
July 27-29
Padanaram Rendezvous, Padanaram, MA
Geoff Marshall, Jerry Smith
PO Box P-266
55 Shipyard Lane, South Dartmouth, MA 02748
(508) 994-0414
Email: mcs1@hotmail.com
August 4
Hyannis Rendezvous, MA
Skip Hall
P.O. Box 1059, So. Orleans, MA 02662
(508) 255-2266
Email: skipperdo@comcast.net
August 4-5
Leo J. Telesmanick Beetle Cat Championships, Bass
River YC, MA
Nancy and Ken Rodgers
11 North Cove Landing, South Yarmouth, MA 02664
(508) 398-3816
Winter: 136 Mariner Lane, Bay Shore, NY 11706
(631) 328-4941
Email: SaltworksX@aol.com,
krodgers@freeportschoools.org
August 10-12
Bass River Race and Rendezvous, Bass River, MA
Paul Cook, Rick Farrenkopf
25 Woronoco Rd., Weymouth, MA 02191
(617) 365-1952, (508) 776-1074
Email: Paul_K_Cook@Raytheon.com
rickscatboat@aol.com
August 11
Cats & Gaffers Race, Essex, CT
Rick Batchelder
204 Middlesex Ave., Chester, CT 06412
(860) 526-4637; email: rick@chesteraf.com
August 11-12
Chatham Yacht Club Regatta, Chatham, MA
Roy Terwilliger
105 Church St., Harwich, MA 02645
(508) 432-0549, (646)456-6168
Email: royrox@comcast.net
August 18
Arey’s Pond Cat Gathering, South Orleans, MA
Tony Davis
Box 222, South Orleans, MA 02662
(508) 255-8977
Email: catboat@cape.com
August 25-26
4th Annual Townie Hornor
Perpetual Sail Around Catboat Rendezvous,
Osterville, MA
Paul and Karen White, Mark Anschutz
295 Route 6A, East Sandwich MA 02537
(508) 888-1394/ (508) 284-7773/ (508) 398-3488
Email: pwcarving@comcast.net,
markanschutz@yahoo.com
September 1-7
Provincetown Schooner Regatta, Provincetown, MA
(Catboat race: September 8)
John Wolf (508) 214-0176
Email: johnwolf@bonehenge.com
Mark Alan Lovewell
35 Lagoon Pond Road
P.O. Box 2034
Vineyard Haven, MA 02568
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Photos and text © Copyright 2012 Mark Alan Lovewell. All rights reserved.