Beetle Cat

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A Beetle Cat is a 12'4" catboat first built in 1920 in New Bedford, Massachusetts by members of the Beetle Family. Over 4,000 of these boats have been built since then. Beetle, Inc., now in Wareham, Massachusetts, is the sole builder of Beetle Cat boats. Beetle Cat is a registered trademark of Beetle, Inc. The boat's shape has become a near-ubiquitous emblem on Nantucket and elsewhere in New England. Famous owners include or have included Senator John Kerry, Jacqueline Onassis, who had one shipped to Greece in 1969 for John F. Kennedy Jr. to learn sailing, Steven Spielberg and Calvin Klein." [1]

A new Beetle 14 catboat, responding to client requests for a Beetle with bench seating, accommodates four adults and has 80% more cockpit interior space. Designed by Bill Sauerbrey in 2006/2007, it underwent a sea trial in late April 2007.


Contents

[edit] History

The Beetle Cat was named after the Beetle family who originally designed and built the boat. The Beetle family was known for building whaleboats and other working boats. In 1920, John Beetle designed a small 12' gaff-rigged wooden sailboat for his children. This was the first Beetle Cat. Its design was based on the twenty to thirty foot catboats used for shallow water fishing along Cape Cod. Outsiders observing the Beetle Cat's performance in New England coastal waters and rivers were quick to express interest. With this interest in the Beetle Cat and the demise of the whaling industry, the Beetles shifted production to the Beetle Cat boat.

During World War II, all production of the Beetle Cat was suspended. After the war, Beetle sold the rights to the Concordia Company in South Dartmouth, MA. Concordia set up a separate Beetle Cat division and in 1960 moved the entire Beetle Cat crew to Smith Neck Road in South Dartmouth. Among the crew was master builder Leo Telesemanick. In 1993, the Beetle Cat division was sold to Charlie York and became Beetle Inc. maintaining the shop at the same location. In October 2003, William L. Womack became the new owner of Beetle Inc. with Charlie York remaining the Master Builder. Womack re-located the operation to Wareham MA.

Beetle Cat Inc. also builds other custom wooden sail and power yachts. In 2005-6, Womack accepted a commission to build what was essentially a scaled-up 28' version of a Beetle Cat. Designated a 28' C.C. Hanley Catboat, the yacht KATHLEEN was featured in the November/December 2006 issue of WoodenBoat magazine. Pictured at [2]

It has been Womack's stated intention to continue the one-design craft in a market niche as a strictly regulated one design wooden class boat used for racing purposes, though Beetle Inc. literature also characterizes as Womack's objective to expand the customer base to the general recreation market to emphasize its use as a beach cruiser and family sailer (the craft can be launched from a sand beach as well as from a dock or boathouse lift) in addition to its being a class racing boat. Although Beetle Inc. is the sole builder of new Beetle Cats, other specialty boatyards such as at The International Yacht Restoration School refurbish Beetle Cats with the objective of training and preserving traditional boat building methods.

[edit] Boat Handling

Described as "fabulous-looking" and an "old-fashioned boat that emphasizes the romance and unique experience of sailing", the author Bob Perry in a 2007 review wrote that: "Beetle Cats are true to the traditional Cape Cod catboat model. They are fat and heavy. They have no overhangs. The strange-looking rudder is designed to give you control in a very shoal-draft boat. Unfortunately, this puts the center of pressure on the rudder blade way aft which exaggerates any helm pressure. The stern is broad. The mast is in the eye of the bow... When you first sail a Beetle Cat, you will be impressed with its big-boat, solid feel. I don't think you could tip a Beetle over without a lot of concerted effort... You sit down low in the Beetle, so the sense of speed is exaggerated... The gaff sail has a nice, if not the most efficient shape. Off the wind, the sail presents a good amount of sail area. Upwind, the gaff falls off, inducing a lot of twist to the mainsail. Note the way the low boom overhangs the transom. You will learn a lot about controlled jibing sailing a Beetle. The rig is not a weatherly rig, but then again, the hull and board are not weatherly either..." [3]

[edit] Construction

The small cedar-hull and fir-spar boat has a sail of approximately 100 square feet (9 m²) and only an eight inch draft (board up). A new one costs nearly $17k (less sail) while older ones come on the market from time to time when they are not passed down in families. Beetles are built as planks of Atlantic white cedar over white oak frames. The seams are caulked with cotton. Though hull colors, and to a greater extent, sail colors vary. The classic colors are a white hull, green below the waterline, a natural cedar cockpit (or on older boats gray), and "Beetle Buff," a sort of burnt orange, for the canvas-covered deck. The spars are bright (i.e., varnished).

Beetle Cats in Massachusetts are often compared to the Herreshoff/Haven 12.5s, designed in 1914 by Nathanael Greene Herreshoff. Both vessels share old-school style, boat handling, and aesthetic qualities and both attract similar classic wood-boat enthusiasts. Both craft are frequently included in coffee table picture books about classic wooden boats. A travel writer in the New York Times noted in a 2002 article that "over the years, the Beetle Cat has acquired an unlikely cachet, as Jacqueline Onassis had one shipped to Greece in 1969 for John F. Kennedy Jr. to learn sailing, and current Beetle Cat owners include Steven Spielberg and Calvin Klein." [4]

Specifications

  • LOA 12'4"
  • Length Waterline 11'8"
  • Beam 6'0"
  • Draft with Board Down 2'0"
  • Draft with Board Up 0'8"
  • Sail Area approx. 100 sq ft (10 m²).
  • Weight approx. 450 lb (204 kg).
  • Frame Oak
  • Planking 1/2" cedar
  • Spars Douglas Fir
  • Centerboard & rudder Marine plywood
  • Deck Canvas on 1/2" cedar
  • Coaming and rails Oak
  • Fasteners Bronze
  • Hardware Bronze

[edit] Beetle 14

Beetle, Inc. introduced a Bill Sauerbrey designed "Beetle 14" in 2007, responding to inquires over the years for a Beetle Cat with seats. The Beetle 14' catboat is cedar planked over white oak frames, with a canvas deck and oak coamings similar in style to the Beetle Cat. While only 2' longer in length, the boat is actually 80% larger, which is evident in its roomy cockpit which seats 4 adults comfortably. The interior on the first boat had a "natural" cockpit at the request of the owner, with painted or varnished seats. The developer made the custom stem head fitting, mast band and gooseneck patterns for the casting of the custom bronze hardware. The spars were built of solid Douglas fir and finished off with bronze hardware and blocks.

The Beetle 14 boat carries 180 sq ft (17 m²). of sail, proportionate to the Beetle Cat's rig, however 2 sets of reef points are standard where as the Beetle Cat has only one. A topping lift is standard as well as more purchase on the peak halyard and mainsheet. These changes, on top of a bit more depth of hull with less fullness forward, were intended to make the vessel easy to handle and fast.

[edit] Fleet Locations

Beetle Cats are found concentrated in Massachusetts, with the Class Association's sanctioned major regattas hosted by fleets in Chatham, West Falmouth, Orleans, New Bedford and Hyannis. The regatta schedule augments the local racing schedules of individual yacht clubs. There is also a fleet comprised of Beetles owned on Georgica Pond, in the Hamptons. As well, Center Harbor Yacht Club in Brooklin, Maine has a fleet of Beetle Cats.

But the best known fleet of Beetle Cats are on Nantucket. In 1925 the Nantucket Yacht Club chose the design for its fleet; with the different colored sails, it became known as the “Rainbow Fleet” and was immortalized in 1930 by a photograph taken by Marshall Gardiner as the fleet rounded Brant Point Lighthouse. The Rainbow Fleet has entered national popular culture due to the ubiquity of ephemera -- posters, gifts, toys, embroidered throws, belt buckles, half-hull models and even candies and food items, that utilize the shape, name, and look of the distinctive hulls and colored sails of the Beetle Cats owned on Nantucket by members of the Nantucket Y.C.[5][6]

There are also beautifully maintained Beetle Cats to sail at the Mystic Seaport Museum and The International Yacht Restoration School.[7]

The best known individual Beetle Cat was one purchased by Jacqueline Onassis.[8] As described by ABC News from auction literature in 2005, this distinguished little boat was:

  • Ordered in 1969 by Jackie Kennedy from the Beetle Cat Boat Division of Concordia Yachts.
  • She purchased it so that son John could use it to learn to sail.
  • Considered a "classic-style" sailboat.
  • Shipped to the Kennedy's in Greece, where they lived at the time.
  • Later sent to Hyannis Port, where it was kept in storage until auction.
  • Expected sale price: $40,000 to $60,000.

[edit] See also

[edit] Reference Books

  • Georgica Pond, by Priscilla Ratazzi (2000), ISBN 0-935-11247-2
  • Wood, Water & Light: Classic Wooden Boats, by Benjamin Mendlowitz and Joel White (1988), ISBN 0-393-03327-9
  • The Book of Wooden Boats vol. II, by Benjamin Mendlowitz and Joel White (1992), ISBN 0-393-03417-8

[edit] External links