Looking for 9' Skimmar Plans

[eplight]

I'm looking for 9' or 14' Skimmar plans or a derelict to get dimensions (or even one in good condition for the same reason). These were manufactured in the 50's by Skimmar in Greenwich, Ct, constructed of marine plywood. It's an open boat, rowboat style with bench seats and a turned up bow with a flat bottom and oak strakes. The transom was beefed up to take an outboard. This was the boat of choice along this part of Long Island Sound for us as teenagers. If none of
these still exist and no plans exist, it would be great to get a set of pictures to work from. PL

[Bill Higgins]

I would also like the 9' Skimmar plans. I had one as a first boat growing up on the Connecticut coast. It was a great boat. Stable, fast, rugged, and capable of handling rough water.

Bill

[2johnbradbury2]

eplight and bill
i also grew up on the sound.i had two such boats as a boy there. it think skip etcheles? designed and built these boats.try information in greenwich/old greenwich albet family or skip is still there.great boat.

[eplight]

John, This is all I can find as of now? Do you remember any further details? EPL

SKIP ETCHELLS
E.W. "Skip" Etchells, designer of the international racing boat that bears his name, died peacefully in his
sleep at his home in Easton, Maryland, on Sunday, December 29, 1998. He was 87 years old.

Skip was active in the Star Class on Long Island Sound. High point of his career was his winning the 1949
Star Worlds with his wife Mary as crew. They remain the only husband-and-wife team to ever have achieved
this pinnacle of sailing excellence, and Mary remains the only woman ever to have won a Star Worlds as
either skipper or crew.

In 1965 Yachting Magazine sponsored a design competition based on IYRU specifications for a three-person
Olympic keelboat. Skip designed and built a 30-foot sloop named "Shillalah" for the sail-off, held in Kiel.
"Shillalah" won eight of the ten races sailed that year and 10 of the 13 races sailed in Travemunde,
Germany, the next year, showing exceptional performance against a new 5.5 Metre and a Dragon, Olympic
classes both; while it did not perform as well as "Shillalah" in the series, the Soling was chosen as the
three-person Olympic keelboat, which it holds to this day.

While "Shillalah" did not impress the Olympic selection committee, it did impress a number of sailors in the
western Long Island Sound who knew Skip and his work. What started out as "Shillalah" became the
Etchells 22, so named for its waterline length; the boat gained IYRU international status in 1972 and
became the "International Etchells" (dropping the "22" from the name) in 1990.

Now, thirty years later, the class is active in the US and Canada, Australia and Europe, with builders on
three continents. The 1998 Etchells Worlds was the biggest ever, with 105 entries. It is a tribute to Skip
Etchells and his timeless design that the class has owners ranging from Olympic medallists and America's
Cup winners to at least one Southern California sailor too old and fat for dinghies anymore.

Skip's wife, Mary, was with him when he died. A Roman Catholic funeral will be held on Wednesday,
December 23, 1998, in St. Michaels, Maryland. - Chris Ericksen