Introducing Theresa

Building Theresa II, an Albert Strange designed yawl from 1913. 

I looked far and wide for the perfect boat to build. An elusive endeavor since nearly every boat I looked at fascinated me somehow. But when I first saw the drawings of Theresa II, I was taken like no other. It is hard to describe how it rushed off the page and swooned my imagination. I looked beyond that image and saw sparkles on the sea and the sheer cliffs of the Scottish coastline. I was stricken.
It was like I was 14 again and the most beautiful girl I had ever seen had just smiled.
The designer’s name is Albert Strange and he was an artist (of course, only an artist could design this boat). He produced over 160 designs between 1888 and 1917. He was also a sailor and cruised up and down the Scottish and English coast. He lived in a time of transition in yachting when cruising in small boats for pleasure was just becoming popular for “ordinary” people. Strange designed honest, seaworthy boats that one could sail the coastline in or cross an ocean. And that’s what I was looking for, a basic, simple, seaworthy boat I could build. It had to be wood. It had to be old and significant. It had to really mean something.
It has been said that boat building with wood is a dying art. I sincerely hope not, any more than love and beauty be dying emotions.
I learned that there was one of this type built in 1913 and was known until around 1990 but she has now apparently disappeared into the well of history. There is no boat to look at, only a drawing. Our world is no longer graced by this beauty. That thought struck me like thunder. I set out to correct this grave injustice and that is my mission.
So let me introduce this boat which is the main subject of this website. Theresa II is 25.5′ on deck. She has a draft (below the waterline) of 3’7″ and a beam (width) of 7’6″. Theresa’s displacement is 8300 lbs and she has a full, heavy keel. So, she is not a large boat but she is not a small one either. The bigness of a boat has more to do with the displacement (the volume of water it displaces) or weight than it has to do with length. She is a yawl or 2 masted. Yawls just breath history. She also has gaff sails and gaff rigs are just cool. So if you would like to sail along with me on this project I welcome any and all. I am just beginning this adventure so you have come aboard right at the start.