Help To Identify Yacht

[Paul Skinner 1Participant @paulskinner1]

Hello All, Newbie here, I looking for assistance in identifying & dating this yacht. Also. I'd like advise as to how long the mast would have been & the forward spar were and how it was rigged & where to source replacement parts please.I've friends who are competent sailors who can assist with this. Thanks for the assistance Regards Paul

[Paul Skinner 1Participant @paulskinner1]

[Gareth JonesParticipant @garethjones79649]

Hi Paul,

I think your yacht is most likely to be a Bill Daniels designed Pocahontas, as shown in the lines drawing below.

There is also a possibility it could be a Bert Littlejohn designed Kittiwake from the same era. as shown below.

It can be difficult to differentiate Marbleheads as they are all the same length at nominally 50 inches. However according to the drawings and the two boats that we have (my wife is lucky enough to have one of each) Pocahontas is 9.5 inch beam and Kittiwake is 9 inches. The stem on Pocahontas is more swept back than Kittiwake and looks more like your model. It is possible that your yacht is something else altogether but the above two designs will give you a good guide as it is most probably from that era.

There is an article on building a 'modern' version of Pocahontas in the Sept 1995 issue of Marine Modelling. For Kittiwake you need to go back further, to the |December 1937 edition of Marine Models.

I can post some photos of our two yachts if that will help. Our Pocahontas was kindly donated to Elizabeth by Bob Abell who built it some years ago but was running out of room to store his models.

Just out of curiosity, are you the Paul Skinner who used to be or maybe still is, a Dunlop rep?

Gareth

[Paul Skinner 1Participant @paulskinner1]

Hello Gareth, Thank you so much for your response and the info it contained. It definitely has a 9.5" beam making it a Pocahontas. As to age, I stumbled across a local estate sale last week purely by chance and very very late in the day and the yacht was still there. A family member , probably in his early 70's said it been in the cottage for as long as he could remember. The cottage was built in the 1930's by the gentleman grandfather is I'd date between the 30's & 50's? Photos would be appreciated if it's not too much of a problem.Finally I'm not a former Dunlop Rep I'm afraid. I arrived on these shores some 21 years ago from East Yorkshire in the UK!! Cheers Paul

[Gareth JonesParticipant @garethjones79649]

Hi Paul,

I take it from the reference to 'these shores' that you are no longer in the UK. If you were in the northwest next month I was going to suggest visiting the Blackpool Model Show as we are supporting a Marblehead themed stand for the Vintage Model Yacht Group and there should be a Pocahontas on the stand. What part of East Yorkshire were you from? We live in Bielby near Pocklington.

Elizabeth's Pocahontas is currently in the loft awaiting renovation and it is probably not a good example to use as a basis for restoration as its relatively new and was built with radio control in mind. Here is a picture of the hull.

I will try and sort out a better picture of an older Pocahontas in the next couple of days.

Regards

Gareth

[Paul Skinner 1Participant @paulskinner1]

Hello Gareth, small world my parents built a home in Goodmanham in 1965/66 and my mother still lives there. She taught at Woldgate for more than 20 years before retiring in the mid 1990’s. I attended Pocklington School for my 6th form after spending 5 years boarding at Barnard Castle. I now live in a small village on the shores of Lake Michigan called Empire. No rush on additional photos I’m pretty sure my sailing friend can assist with the rigging and apparently there’s someone in CA that manufacturers brass fittings !

[Gareth JonesParticipant @garethjones79649]

Hi Paul,

Certainly is a small world, both our kids went to Woldgate but it would have been from about 2000 onwards.

I will sort the photos out in the next couple of days. It may be easiest to send photos of the Littlejohn Kittiwake we have as being more representative of your Marblehead, even though its a different design.

Regards

Gareth

[Gareth JonesParticipant @garethjones79649]

Hi Paul,

One other point I meant to add.

Given your location, and assuming you found the yacht over there, I guess there is a possibility it is an American design rather than a British Pocahontas or Kittiwake. Either way the rigging and size of the mast and spars will be similar. The Marblehead design originated in the USA in the early 1930's. There is a history of the origins of the Marblehead class on the US vintage model yacht group site and there is a link to it here:- **LINK**

Gareth

Edited By Gareth Jones on 26/09/2018 16:21:55

Edited By Gareth Jones on 26/09/2018 16:22:12

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Hi Gareth and Paul S

Thanks Gareth for the name mention

I'm pleased that you and Elizabeth are still looking after the Classic Yacht section of things and that my models are in safe keeping

Just for general interest here are two models based on the hull of Pocahontas

Pocaltair and Pocatannia

Pocatannia can be seen in YouTube, sailing at Buxton……..If I can find it, I'll post a link

Bob

[Gareth JonesParticipant @garethjones79649]

Paul,

Its a nice day here back in East Yorkshire, sunny and not too windy so I have taken the promised photos of Ella. She was built to the Kittiwake design in the 1940's but would be quite representative of what your Pocahontas would have been like originally.

For reference the top of the mast stands 62 inches above the deck, the jib boom is 13.5 inches long and the main boom is 22 inches long.

Bob,

Your Pocahontas is still in the queue for repair of the leak and loose keel weight, maybe it will reach the front this winter. We have sailed Britannia this year but it was a really grey day and the photos would not be worth putting on here. Maybe the weather and photos will be better next time. We hope you are keeping well.

Regards

Gareth

Edited By Gareth Jones on 28/09/2018 13:16:51

[Paul Skinner 1Participant @paulskinner1]

Hello Gareth, Thanks for the photos it's remarkably similar to our yacht even down to the hardware I received this from John Stoudt "

This is definitely a Brained steered Marblehead. Nice looking boat. Probably late 1930s or early 1940s. I am not sure of the designer/builder.

Go to the USVMYG (USVMYG.ORG) website and look at the vintage Marblehead plans. Maybe one of them is close.

So I think we're getting close to dating and identifying our boat. Thanks again for all you're efforts we greatly appreciate it. Cheers Paul

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