Letter regarding Dovekie and Ava, 2019
Archive Item Type: Correspondence, Letter
A typed letter to David Elliot from Neilson Abeel, dated 28 August, 2019, regarding Dovekie and Ava.
The photograph of Dovekie mentioned in the letter can be viewed here.
Transcript:
My maternal grandfather, J. Lewis Stackpole (1874-1953), owned, designed, and raced sailboats all his life.
He owned two Six-Meters:
#1. DOVEKIE (Sea Venture) designed and built by Bjarne Aas 1930. She was acquired by my uncle Richard Stackpole and his father in 1939. She was destroyed in Mattapoisett MA in the hurricane of September 1944.
Dimensions: 36’8″ LOA; 23’2″ LWL; Beam 6’2″ Draft 5’3″ She was “bright’ and came with sail number 6/K2.
N.B. Her dimensions are inches away from Aas’s 1935 SAGA, restored by Kimo Mackay. I was taken, as a toddler, for sails in Mattapoisett Harbor and remember that her tiller was below deck in the cockpit.
#2. AVA (Priscilla) designed by Clinton H. Crane, built @ Nevins 1927.
Dimensions 33’1″ LOA, 22’6″ LWL, 6.0 Beam, 5T” Draft.
She was acquired in 1945. I had my first sailing instruction at age seven. She was raced at Beverly Yacht Club, Marion MA in a handicapped class. By age nine I was taken along as long as I could stay out of the way. My grandfather suffered a stroke in 1952 and died the following summer.
N.B. Clinton H. Crane, Harvard 1894 and J. Lewis Stackpole, Harvard 1895 were life-long friends and started their international yacht racing in the Seawanhaka Cup Races of 1897 and 1898 held in both the United States and Canada. They competed in three Crane designed boats, MOMO, ELANKA, and SEAWANHAKA.
J. Lewis Stackpole continued racing Sonder Boats and was the skipper of the SPOKANE at the Kiel Regatta of 1907. The American team of three boats was organized by F. Lewis Clark, Commodore of the Eastern Yacht Club who sailed over on his steam yacht GOLDEN EAGLE.
I am enclosing a photograph (circa 1940) of DOVEKIE. J.Lewis is on the helm, Richard to windward. Unfortunately, I have no photograph of AVA.
