CLASSIC BOAT APRIL 2016 41I
t was a now forgotten American craftsman who elevated the
construction of hollow spars to an art-form and made them
commercially viable. His name was Lewis K Young; a joiner
and stair-builder by trade, who lived in Bridgeport,
Connecticut and raced Sandbaggers in his spare time. In the
1880s, appreciating the potential benefits of lighter spars, he
started to experiment for his own interest.
Obtaining long lengths of fine “white spruce” from the
Pacific coast, he took great pains over the finish of the inside
hollow, and in ensuring the faying surfaces all mated exactly,
and the careful application of the clamps. He would use all the
available labour in his workshop to apply the glue and then
clamp the spar quickly, tensioning the clamps himself to
ensure an even and correct pressure along the spar. He also
developed his own secret wood glue.
By 1892 he was advertising in the town directory as a
manufacturer of hollow spars for small yachts and it wasn’t long
before he was making spars full time. He ended up making spars
for the Spalding-St Lawrence Boat Co, based at Ogdensburgh on
the St Lawrence river, and eventually in 1898 the manager, John
G Fraser, persuaded Young to move from Bridgeport and work
for the company full time. Young was unhappy away from the
sea, and before long sold his tools and his glue recipe to his
apprentice, William Miller, and moved back to Bridgeport. In the
meantime, Fraser had had Young’s secret glue analysed and
developed his own variation.
The Spalding-St Lawrence Company went on to become one
of, if not the premier spar builder in the world. They supplied
hollow spars to the America’s Cup defender Independence in
1901, as well as the challenger Shamrock II. They also supplied
spars for the fin-keeled Ester as she was in build in 1901 inIn part two Theo Rye looks
at how the development
of hollow spars influenced
sailing in the past century
HOW
HOLLOW
SPARS
CHANGED
SAILING
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS