Hinckley pilot 35 (no' 3502)

[steve pilot 35]

I am interested in any information on the timber pilots, built between 1956-1957, there was only 8 ever made, there is an advert in the wooden boat mag for sailing charters,on the first pilot built (Huntress) , (wings of the morning) which was changed soon after to moonlight lady was the second to be built (this is mine), so where are the others, is there any owners out there, they were all sloops,names, ( My Fair Lady, Wild Goose , Pavanne , Crackerjack , Jackpot , Quandry ,the names are in order of being built, can anyone help me fill in the gaps.
thanks steve

[nobby]

i remember seeing a boat called cracker jack in the nature of boats by gerr isbn 0-87742-289-3 if thats any help

[Dan McCosh]

Not sure about Hinckley pilots. Are you just talking about the ones built by Hinckley? The design is older, and others were built by other builders. One is still sailing actively in DRYA racing in the Detroit area. (Some five Mackinac wins) It is called Albacore, and has been raced since the 1940s. There is another around here called Old Rarity--dunno the age or builder. It came from Maine, was restored, and sold a couple of years ago.

[steve pilot 35]

The pilot 35 was designed by sparkman & stephens

[Dan McCosh]

The Sparkman Stephens pilots were built by several yards, including the Fisher Boatworks in Detroit. Albacore was built there, when the yard converted from building patrol boats in WW II. I don't know how many were built, but it was a pretty popular design for a long time. I think the Hinckley version was some kind of stretched version of the original, which is 33 ft. on deck. I believe some other yards also produced S&S pilots, but I'm not sure.

[DrakeChristensen]

There's a couple of the Detroit-built ca.1948 33' Pilots in Chicago...

[steve pilot 35]

Im mainly interested in the hinckley built pilots, reason being im trying to work out my pilots value, she is in realy good condition, and is the same as she came out of hinckley in 1956

[Dan McCosh]

Can' t help as to value. I think Old Rarity was sold about four years ago for something like $10,000, and it was in excellent condition, following an extensive rebuild that cost some $30,000. (I know the former owner who did the job.) The problem is that the local markets for boats vary so widely. There is little interest in wood sailboats in the Great Lakes, and sailboats in general are moving very slowly, while apparently there is a booming sailboat market in general in Australia and NZ. A friend recently sold his 35 ft. cutter (fiberglass) after sailing it to Australia from Detroit. He made a good profit, and the boat sold in a couple of days.

[Noah]

Hi Steve,

There was a "Pre Pilot" Pilot here on the lake that recently sold for somewhere around $75,000. It was in absolutely perfect shape, and was built by a very good yard. (Not Hinckley) It had all bronze fastenings, etc.

I have a 1953 Hinckley 36 for sale right now, and I'm asking $35,000, which judging from the response seems like a very reasonable number.

There is another of these for sale on Yachtworld and they are asking $38,000. The 36's are bigger in most respects than the Pilots. More freeboard, more headroom, etc.

There was a wooden Pilot with a fiberglass deck that went for somewhere in the $30's as well.

Also there is a local Southwester 34, and they are asking $39,000, but that seems pretty high judging it's condition.

You can take a look at the website that I put together for my Hinckley at:

http://www.morebutter.com/Hinckley/

Good luck, and post some pictures!

Noah

[DrakeChristensen]

Originally posted by Dan McCosh:
...There is little interest in wood sailboats in the Great Lakes...Why is this? Seems a real shame...

[Dan McCosh]

Re: wooden sailboats in the Great Lakes.

This area has followed the same pattern as most everywhere--low-cost fiberglass creating a boomlet, followed by a serious glut of smallish sailboats. The active scene today is split between high-tech racers, and fairly commodious cruising boats filling in as stand-in cottages. Sail boats 30 ft. and under are laying all about the yards in various states of disrepair. High cost of dockage, etc., has pushed much of boating back up to the luxury arena. The question isn't so much why no wooden boats, but why they seem to have some support elsewhere. Vic Carpenter was the last wooden sailboat builder in the Great Lakes of any note. Restoration expertise has mainly faded away. The new boats done in wood are all high-end power, including classic replicas. I belong to the Great Lakes Wooden Sailboat society, and attendence is about a third of what it was 10 years ago at our events. Main exception for wooden sailboats is the fleets of meter-type racers at a few clubs,notably Port Huron, Toronto and Cleveland. This is tradionally the most populous boating scene in the U.S., and I can pretty much count the wooden sailboats in the area on one hand.

[ 09-17-2005, 09:33 AM: Message edited by: Dan McCosh ]

[steve pilot 35]

well dan its a shame but you are very right ,since purchasing my pilot, i have started seeing all these beautiful timber boats going to waste, lying in yards, in padocks,or left to rott on the beach, for some reason today people seem to think that timber is no good, and that glass is the only way, my pilot has been in the water for 48 years, and i wonder how many glass and steel boats have been and gone in her life, and with a lot of tlc she will be there in another 48 years

[TimH]

Very Nice, :D
Good thing you are on the wrong coast. I need to spend my money on land....not a boat :D
I do think she looked better in white though.....just personal preference. ;)

[Noah]

Tim, I take it you are talking to me? :cool:

She looked good in white, but she has pretty high topsides. The dark blue really helps slim her down a bit. I like the high topsides because there is 6'8" of headroom in the main cabin which is good for a tall guy like me.

The dark blue is hard to keep clean though. Heck, it's only paint. Each year I can try something new.