Classic_Boat_2016-08

CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2016 91

Classnotes

BY VANESSA BIRD

T

he roots of this class of high

performance skimming dishes

dates back over 120 years to

when boatbuilder John O Johnson

launched a radical new design at a

club race at the White Bear Yacht

Club in Minnesota in 1896. While

working as a shipwright for Gus

Amundsen at Amundsen Boat

Works, the young would-be designer

decided that the future of racing

boats for inland waters lay not with

the current vogue for deep-draught

displacement boats but instead with

shallow skimming dishes that would

fl y across the surface of the water. It

was an audacious idea for the

unskilled designer, and one that met

considerable ridicule, but at that fi rst

race at the White Bear YC in 1896

opinions soon changed and his

talents were admired. Not only did

his scow, Weirdling, lap her

competitors, but Johnson had her

packed away before the second-

placed boat had fi nished.

Johnson’s success impressed many,

including local sailor C Milton

Griggs, who commissioned him to

build a second, and by 1900

Minnezitka, a 38ft (11.6m) fl at-

bottomed scow, had been launched.

Minnezitka proved as triumphant as

her predecessor, and during races

against similar-sized boats built by

Amundsen and other local designers

proved the faster, particularly in

heavy winds. Sailed fl at she would

skim across the water, while heeled

over, her shallow freeboard acted

like a canoe’s hull.

Minnezitka’s success on the water

was particularly signifi cant as it not

only kick-started Johnson’s career,

earning him the reputation of being

one of the best designers of inland-

water racing boats in North America,

but she also heralded the start of a

formidable class of scows – the

A-Scows – as it was from her hull that

the new class developed.

For the next 60 years, Johnson

Boat Works went into steady

production of A-Scows and their

smaller siblings, the B-, C-, D- and

E-Scows. The last wooden boat to be

built by Johnson Boat Works was

launched in 1963, the same year that

its founder, JO Johnson, died.

In the late 1970s new life was

injected into the club when the design

was converted to GRP construction.

The fi rst new boat was launched in

1979, and although the basic

dimensions and rig design were

almost identical to the early boats in

the class, new materials and modern

rigging have brought it up to date and

turned it into an impressive high-

performance racing machine. Crewed

by fi ve to seven people, speeds in

excess of 25mph have been recorded.

Since the introduction of GRP, the

class has seen a resurgence in

Minnesota and Wisconsin, and boats

are now built by Melges Performance

Sailboats. In 2002 another company,

Victory By Design, tweaked the hull

design and produced a faster version

that caused some ructions within the

class, and which eventually led to the

formation of the V38 and a

standalone fl eet.

Today, the A-Scow is still the

largest and most powerful of all the

scows and despite modern tweaks the

lineage is still clear to see. The

A-Scow’s hull was considered radical

in 1900, yet even today, when

extreme designs are almost the norm,

it still remains relevant.

MACKINAC RACE

In 1961 the double-planked A-Scow

Zinnefox took part as an unoffi cial

competitor in the infamous 333-mile

Mackinac Race – the oldest

freshwater distance race in the

world – along Lake Michigan. Six

crew, including skipper Hermann

Nunnemacher, crewed on board the

38-footer, and began the race after

the fl eet of over 100 boats had set

off. Despite horrendous sailing

conditions, including three

thunderstorms overnight, Zinnefox

crossed the fi nish line just behind

the third-placed boat, and 13

minutes behind the overall winner.

THE B-SCOW

John O Johnson at the Johnson

Boat Works built a number of other

scow classes, including the C-Scow

(see CB331), D-Scow, E-Scow and

M-Scow. The B-Scow was a 32ft

(9.8m) version of the A-Scow that

was introduced as an easier boat to

handle, but it never really took off

as its dimensions were so close to

those of the A-Scow, and sailors

preferred the bigger boat.

A-SCOWS ON FILM

In 2006 a feature-length

documentary fi lm on the A-Scows

• The Ultimate Ride – was released.
  Narrated by top sailor Gary Jobson,
  the fi lm focuses on the history of
  the class, and includes interviews
  with top sailors and people
  connected with the scows. See
  theultimateridethemovie.com

PATRICK DUNSWORTH

SPECIFICATIONS

LOA

38ft (11.6m)

BEAM

8ft (2.4m)

DRAUGHT

4ft/1ft

(1.2m/0.3m)

DISPLACEMENT

1,850lb (839kg)

SAIL AREA

500sq ft

(46.5m^2 )

DESIGNER

John O Johnson

The A-Scow

Vanessa’s book Classic

Classes comprises 140

of the most enduring

keelboat and dinghy

classes. Available at

£17.99, bloomsbury.com

Although most of the A-Scows now raced competitively are modern GRP

versions, the hull and rig plans remain very similar to designs from 1900

Next month

RIVA AQUARAMA