Do You Know the 10-Meter ‘Sally’?
I recently came across Fred Huffman’s request for information on the 10-Meter Sirius, and was hoping you could help me out with a similar request. Of the original 14 Starling Burgess-designed and Abeking & Rasmussen-built 10-meters only two remain: Branta, #7 and Sally, #12. It’s rather amazing that after nearly 100 years and 5,700 miles from where they were launched, these two sisters not only survived, but live a few docks away from each other at the San Diego Yacht Club.
As we approach Sally’s 100th birthday in 2027, I am trying to compile as much of her history as possible, and I need the Latitude Nation’s help. We are looking for photos, results, anecdotes, etc. — anything to help fill in the blanks.
What I have we are posting to her webpage here: www.koehlerkraft.com/sally10meter.
Thank you!
— Danielle Richards, marketing and public relations manager, Koehler Kraft Co.
Great memories of racing on Sally with C.F.! Lots of good post race parties too!!
I remember Sally when Don Campion owned her kept her in Santa Cruz harbor circa 1975ish. Matthew Coale sailed on her and helped keep her afloat.
Jim Walsh was also instrumental in Donn Campion’s purchase of her.
I began racing sailboats in Southern California in the mid 1950s , mostly out of New Port and L A Harbor.
(Long Beach was just beginning to be created). The 10 meter Sirius raced often in those days and usually won her races. As I recall,Sally was out there racing from time to time, also. Those boats were just a joy to see, they were – and still are – simply beautiful yachts : sleek and s perfect sheer lines.
Sally’s hull was painted a beautiful medium green; that very color was produced by the marine paint maker or Z-Spar who named it ‘Sally Green’ – undoubtedly named for the beautiful 10-meter . I was painting boats in those days and I often brushed Sally Green paint on various boats, especially interiors of boats.
Fred Huffman
Gives me “chicken skin” as we say in Hawai’i!!! These yachts are living, breathing vessels and God Bless the people who have and will continue to maintain, sail and truely appreciate them.
My grandfather owned Sally for many years. He was also a staff commodore of California Yacht Club, Long Beach yacht Club, Catalina Island yacht Club. Sally green was for many years used around Catalina Island piers and handrails.
My grandfather ALSO owned SALLY for a few years in New Rochelle, NY (1939-41?), per Jon Wilson’s research at the Wooden Boat library, Brooklin, Maine (September 2020). Dr. Hasso von Wedel was Commodore of the New Rochelle Yacht Club about that time up to 1942. He named the boat after his second wife, Sally von Wedel.
In 1966 I visited, with my uncle Don von Wedel, the SALLY berthed at Orange Coast College where she had been donated and was a being raced. the hull was painted that unique pale aqua green color; her mahogany cockpit was still gleaming in varnish. In the late 1970s I met Harvey Wills (see his posting above) and he presented me with a small. can of the SALLY Green, which I still have.
The boat’s listing no. 4951 in the 1939 Lloyd’s Registry List of Yachts in America indicates she was previously named TEAL, and before that, her original name was REDHEAD, “Built to Int. Rating Class 10-meters”.
If Daniela or anyone else would like more information, I would be happy to connect them to Herr Oliver von Borstel, the naval architect at Abeking Rasmussen in charge of the company’s Archives Department. I was there last September gathering a trove of information on the M-Boat, PURSUIT, still lying on the hard forlornly over at the Svendsen’s Bay Marine shipyard without a cover or proper support of her long overhangs – despite an apparent sale to a new “European owner” last December. More on that sad story later….
Randall von Wedel
Point Richmond, CA
Yes, I do know Sally, at least a little bit. As a UCSC student in the mid-80s, I had the great pleasure of sailing aboard twice. The first time was soon after she was transferred to UCSC. I was taking a keelboat class. Dick Murray was the instructor, and he decided that the whole class would get on board Sally and head out for a spin. Nobody in the class had been on a boat like Sally before, and we had an absolute blast. The only rough spots were one knockdown and a bit of a grounding while returning to the Santa Cruz harbor. (No shame there.) Phil Vandenberg was waiting for us at the dock, asking who had been driving for the knockdown, when I think he already knew the answer.
The second time was with CF himself. He’d come up to Santa Cruz to get ready to take Sally away to San Diego. He was looking for crew, and a mutual friend knew that I sailed, at least a little bit, so I got invited to take her out with the two of them. They knew what to do, and were really relaxed. I remember CF climbing up on the boom and stretching out in the ample foot of the main. The only tricky part was when I had a chance to steer and got a bit too close to the wind and learned that once a boat like Sally starts to come about… Great memories and great sailing!
I dismasted her in the 70’s which began her voyage to San Diego for repair and eventual ownership by Koehler Kraft. I’d love to purchase her now and bring her to Westpoint Harbor.
I worked for Don Campion when he owned Sally in Santa Cruz. The entire mast step had rusted nearly to nothing. We lifted out the gorgeous and amazing mast and removed the badly corroded mast step. Then I had a metal fabrication yard in Oakland make a near perfect duplicate with all of the matching bolt holes and the oval mast receiver. I then had it hot dipped galvanized in San Jose. We brought it to Sally and it went in nearly perfectly. As I remember we had to barely adjust just a few bolt holes. Then the mast was lifted by the large crane and it went into place very easily. I seem to recall that was in about 1981 or so and I was about 33 years old. I’m 76 now and am so thrilled to know that Sally is still sailing. We had the hull painted the Z-Spar color “Sally Green” and I kind of wish that hull color had been maintained but it looks like you guys have done a fabulous restoration. Thanks for posting the information.