FAMOUS FRIENDSHIP SLOOP ~ A LEGENDARY BOAT 

 

Copyright 2008 -  2003 by Land and Sea Collection, All Rights Reserved

 

You are viewing one of the finest plank on bulkhead wood models on the market at an unbelievable low price. It is a beautiful reproduction of the famous 26 foot Friendship sloop, "Tern", built in 1900 and still sailing strong in Maine today. Our 26", one inch equals one foot, model features a gaff rig, two jibs, and a mainsail. It has a beautifully enameled dark green hull, white deckhouse, and wood decks and cap rail. This is a HUGE model 37" long overall and 41 1/2" high. (base to the top of mast)  Its stitched sails, and enameled hull paint, and trailing boards are exceptional.

 

OUR LINE OF QUALITY MODERATELY PRICED BOAT MODELS include in sailboats in addition to the FRIENDSHIP SLOOP,  the Crosby cat, the Marshall 18, and Beetle cats, two different sizes of the Schooner Bluenose, a Friendship sloop, Schooners Adventuress, America, Amistad, the much admired Herreshoff's 12.5  "S" boats, and New York 30,  J Class Rainbow, Endeavour, Enterprise, Shamrock, each as full models or half hulls, and  also the three masted lumber Schooner WAWONA and Sparkman & Stephen's ocean racer Dorade, yawl Odyssey, and Concordia yawl. In motor vessels we offer the Lake Union Dreamboat , the Chris Craft Barrel Back, the Garwood Speedster, and a classic 1920 motor yacht.

 

As a retired professional mariner and as a collector myself, it is difficult to understand why there is such a wide disparity in quality. Many models are sold at very high prices, and others at give away prices, and when you look at them closely, you can see why. The high priced ones are very much over priced, and the low priced ones are not true to the original and are mostly representative of foreign vessels. We hope to change that by providing high quality models of boats known and loved by American sailors at a reasonable price that will give lasting enjoyment, and pride of ownership.

 

FRIENDSHIP SLOOP HISTORY:

The Friendship Sloop has no real birth, but was gradually developed starting in the 1800's from the fishing and lobstering needs of the men of Muscongus Bay on the Maine coast. It is certain some of these fishermen had seen a Gloucester fishing boat, and being impressed with lines, had incorporated some of its features into their own hull designs. These men did not build a "class boat" where every hull is the same length. From existing records we find that the original builders constructed sloops varying in length of 21' - 50'. Probably the average length would be about 30' - 40'. The basic design was scaled up or down depending on length, and followed a pre-set formula. They all had an elliptical stern, and most of them a clipper bow, and were gaffed rigged. The pre-set formula included such measurements as: the beam equaled one third the overall length, and the length of the mast should equal the length overall plus half the draft, etc.

Boat shops dotted the coastline of Bremen Long Island, Morse Island, Cushing, Thomaston, and Friendship. In 1903 there were 22 sloops being built on the shores of Bremen Long Island alone. Many of the men went into the woods to cut their own wood, and hauled it to the saw mill with horses. The island builders floated their sawed planks (25' - 36') suspended over two dories to get it to their offshore boat houses. Each builder had some little secret innovation which in his estimation made his model better than the others.

The usual procedure was for the fisherman to spend his winter building the sloop, fish with it all summer, sell her in the fall and start the process over again come winter. She was sold for what the builder had in it, usually $350 - $500. This schedule enabled him to have a boat to work from and something to keep him busy all winter.

There are many names that are remembered as builders: Carters, McLains, Collomores, Winchenbachs, Morses and others but Wilbur Morse's name comes up as father of the Friendship Sloop because of the large number that come from his shop. It is said a sloop was launched every two or three months. Because of Wilbur's mass production and his shop being in Friendship, this great sloop acquired the name of the town he was building in.

Thus it was before the turn of the century one could see Friendship Sloops all over the sound engaged in seining for herring, hand lining for cod, sword fishing, mackereling, and lobstering. Lobstering today is a difficult enough job with all the modern-day motors, electronic gear and the like, but to haul and bait traps, plus managing a huge sail and keeping a boat with about a five foot draft off the rocks must have been a full-sized order for most men. When an eighty-year old lobsterman was asked about this, he said, "Lead out the sheet of the mains'l quite a way, and trim the jib taught while you're hauling. The sloop will lay good then."

The advent of motors and modern equipment around 1915 almost relegated this great craft to extinction, but her fine lines, her seaworthiness, and her great record have added "yachting" to her long list of uses. An annual regatta began in Friendship. In 1961, fourteen Sloops sailed in a regatta, and the Friendship Sloop Society was born. Each year now a regatta is held in July in Maine and Connecticut. It is also held in Massachusetts during August.

The Friendship Sloop's fishing career has given way to progress, but her charm will live forever in the form of the many that are still sailing.

MODEL DIMENSIONS: 37" L x 41 1/2" H x 8 1/2" W   WEIGHT 5 lbs

MINOR ASSEMBLY REQUIRED: To save cost, this model is shipped with its mast down. For most people, it is a simple affair to step the mast and hook on all the stays and shrouds, and attach the sails. The detailed instructions are excellent, and the sails have numbered stickers on them, but if you have a problem, email or call us for guidance.

Copyright 2008 -  2003 by Land and Sea Collection, All Rights Reserved