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Sweeps Take a Yankee One-Design Home

Sean Svendsen of The Boat Yard at Grand Marina sent us this photo of Geoff Clerk rowing his classic Yankee One-Design, Flotsam, back to Fortman Marina after they’d unstepped the mast. Sean said, “The boat actually has oarlocks and, as you can see, very long oars. Geoff told me, “It’s much easier to row without the mast in it.”  Who would have thought?

Yankee One Design
This classic Yankee One-Design being rowed across the harbor in Alameda where the Alaska Packers used to moor.
© 2022 Sean Svendsen

There’s something about traditional yachting that always stirs the heart.

3 Comments

  1. milly Biller 2 years ago

    I love that design ! I also love the creativity to think of doing this. I wonder if standing in the cockpit and rolling it side to side would work too- Wabbit style . Sailors just figure it out…
    Love it !

  2. Martin Thomas 2 years ago

    Was Fortman use by the Alaska Packers? I know they used what is now Grand Marina, aka Alaska Packer’s Basin. Fortman was mostly for transshipping cargo from rail to ship and vice versa,

    • John Arndt 2 years ago

      From the Fortman Marina website, “Fortman Marina dates back to 1904, when the Alaska Packers Association began purchasing waterfront lands bordering San Antonio Estuary, Alameda. This safe and sheltered anchorage was chosen to winter their large fleet of wooden sailing vessels.” This is when neither Grand Marina or Fortman Marina existed and that area of Alameda was used by the Alaska Packers Association used this area to repair their fleets during the winter before they headed for Alaska in the spring for the fishing season. Fortman Marina was named for the first president of the Alaska Packers and is the oldest operating yacht harbor on the Oakland estuary.

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