ANNA
along the eastern seaboard, Anna shrunk but was
designed to do “all that with all the modern systems
possible and all the classic style possible.”
Stephens collaborated closely with the South Carolina
couple who commissioned Anna. The husband was
concerned about the functionality of the boat and sail
plan above decks, while the wife was smitten by the
turn-of-the-century designs of William Fife.
Lyman-Morse, a gold standard for production and
custom boatbuilding in Maine, was selected to build
Anna in cold-moulded wood construction. Martha
Coolidge was brought in to design the interior joinery,
drawing on her years studying and consulting in the
restoration of the States’ finest classics including her own
beloved S&S six metre Jill. For the owner, the two-year
design and build process is difficult to describe.
“One of the nicest things about Anna is the rail
around the topsides,” says the owner about the elegantly
integrated mahogany trim around the cabin house.
“Some people forget that if you’re moving around that
area, it’s not just about walking, you are hanging on.
That rail must be functional, architectural and
aesthetically pleasing.”
Above: The
gorgeous style
and convenience
of a spirit-of-
tradition interior
in hand-selected
teak with stained
European walnut
cabin soleCHANNELLING FIFE
There’s no way Martha Coolidge will call her interior
joinery concepts for Anna a compromise. Like her hull
form, Anna’s interior sets a high watermark for
combining contemporary sensibilities and traditional
styling. Though Stephens Waring drew the above deck
joinery, below was Coolidge’s world.
Coolidge is a student of classic yachts and was a
friend of Olin Stephens. For Anna, the owners gave her
solid direction from the start. “She wanted a lot of
details used by Fife,” she says, referring to the owner’s
love of the 1924 Fife schooner Adventuress, restored by
Rockport Marine. “She was a total newbie but she has a
great eye for proportion and patina. She loved the
ventilation detail on Fifes even though she didn’t know
what they did.”
Martha Coolidge has describes her own work as
“masculine” but she went even further with this project.
Interior doors and accesses were given more “angularity”
and squareness that stand out in the landscape of painted
ceiling and varnished joinery.
Bearing in mind Anna’s intended use – daysailing with
friends and family in comfort and style – the cockpit and