FBYC History....

Jere Dennison(with excerpts from the Cal 25 website)

William "Bill" Lapworth -- perhaps the foremost West Coast Naval Architect in the post- World War II period -- passed away in early April and was buried at sea off the California coast. Born December 12, 1919 in Detroit, Michigan, he attended and graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in marine engineering and naval architecture. At the end of World War II, after serving as a United States naval officer, he decided to make his home on the West Coast and began a design business. Work flowed to him readily and he was responsible for the design of some major changes to well known West Coast yachts that required new rigs to keep them competitive-the 82' sloop Patolita, later Sirius II, the conversion of the 98' schooner Morningstar to a modern Ketch rig; and the 77-foot Herreshoff Schooner Queen Mab with a new staysail schooner rig.

Soon he was designing a series of light displacement racing sailboats that began to win or place highly on the East and West Coasts, beginning with Flying Scotsman and Nalu II, 46' -- a four time Class C Transpac race winner and first overall in 1959. Next came the 50' sloop Ichiban, second overall in the 1961 Transpac. By 1958, more than 70 of the wooden L-36' sloops had been built; but, by then fiberglass was becoming the material of choice.

With Bill recognizing fiberglass properties as an ideal and readily available material for sailboats embodying both strong and light construction properties he began designing fiberglass hulls. He had phenomenal success in the major races on the West Coast. He designed Cal boats in all sizes from 20-48 feet and of course the famous Cal 40. That design proved itself over and over, winning many races including the Bermuda Race in 1966 and the TransPac in 1965, 1966, 1967 and 1985. The Cal 40 was so successful that it was inducted into the American Sailboat Hall of Fame, and led Bill Schanen, the editor of Sailing magazine to hail Lapworth as one of the sport's greatest designers. In cruising designs his Cal 46 was also produced in great numbers and continues to be enjoyed by the cruising set.

At FBYC, Lapworth was a legend in his own time. During the 1960s and into the 1970s, Cals were the boats to have if you were serious about racing. Just to name a few of that era off the top of my head, there were Allan McCullough’s Cal 40, Ernie Rose’s Cal 25, Wood Bedell’s Cal 28, Bev and Susan Crump’s, Hiram Pritchard’s, and Clyde Gauldin’s Cal 2-30s, Pete Sower’s Cal 3-30, Brent Halsey’s Cal 34 and, later, Cal 39, Ben Ackerly’s Cal 2-27, and a small one-design fleet of Cal 20s. And, in 1985, I purchased an aging Cal 2-27, Zephyr, that I still own.

During the winter of 1986 – 87, while preparing Zephyr for the MORC East Coast Championship to be hosted by our club in June, I received incredible news. We had a job opening in my department at work and were asked to grant a courtesy interview to the son of one of our exec’s old school chums at VMI. He had no particular work experience in the area, but we deemed it politically expedient to give him polite consideration.

Mark had just left the Marines and was moving with his wife from California to Virginia. Getting acquainted, he said they would be commuting from a house that was a dependency on a large historic estate known as Providence near the Piankatank River Bridge. Hmm…this was getting interesting. “Just who is the new owner of Providence,” I asked. “Oh,” he said, a friend of his wife’s family in California who is retiring and selling his house in Newport Beach for several million dollars and moving to Virginia. He’s a yacht designer…his name is Bill Lapworth.” (“You have got to be kidding,” I thought, “but, dude, you’re hired.”)

I wrangled an invitation to Providence from my new employee later that spring to meet the great one. We found Lapworth cutting his expansive lawn on a tractor, and time allowed him to exchange only the briefest of pleasantries on the hill overlooking a long pier with a Cal 46 berthed at the end. At least I had the introduction, but the visit certainly did not meet my high expectations.

A few weeks later, before the MORC East Coasts, I happened to be in Hurds when I spotted Bill Lapworth standing in the check-out line. And I was a crew short for the championships. Should I or shouldn’t I? What can I lose, I asked myself. After reintroducing myself, I popped the question to which I fully expected a negative response: “Would you like to crew on my Cal 2-27 in the MORC championships just two weeks away?”

I literally floated out the door of Hurds with Bill’s reply ringing in my ears. Without hesitation, he said he would love to crew since he hadn’t had a chance to get out on the water while renovating his house. And besides, he had never sailed on a Cal 2-27 in spite of the fact he had designed the boat. This acclaimed yacht designer and veteran of many major ocean races around the world would actually sail on Zephyr at our little club on Fishing Bay. I guess you could say I was hopelessly star-struck.

With much anxiety on my part, my crew of Danny Austin, Graham Henderson, and Bill Lapworth assembled for the championship. We would be racing in the Ancient Mariner Division comprised of older designs. Would we embarrass ourselves in the company of the sailing maestro?

To my surprise, Lapworth was a paragon of the perfect crew. He was polite and demurring, offering only occasional helpful suggestions. He was even reluctant to take the helm but did so only after my urging. As helmsman, he was truly entranced, and I can still remember the looks of intensity and utter contentment in his eyes. We did well, but not well enough to beat our arch competitor, Ben Ackerly in his Cal 2-27 Melee. But it was fitting that two Lapworth boats finished one-two in our division.

Between races, we discussed boats and designs. Bill never talked down to us at any time and expressed interest in what we had to say. He was technically oriented, of course, but also was that rare breed with interpersonal skills as well. Although pressed, he would not name is favorite design…he enjoyed them all, regardless of the praises heaped on the Cal 40. Philosophically, he always wanted to design boats that were fast but could leave port and return without outside assistance.

My primary goal at the end of the event was for Bill to autograph Zephyr on her interior bulkhead. Guess what?… I forgot and he left for Providence. I kicked myself hard for this oversight, but wasn’'t about to drag him back for his signature. I was therefore more than delighted to receive a thank-you note from Providence dated July 5, 1987:

Dear Jere,

I should have written sooner to thank you for a wonderful weekend but knowing that you were headed for Bermuda, I allowed myself to procrastinate.

I really enjoyed the chance to get out on the bay and away from some of the cares around here. The sailing was great even with the drifting match on Sunday. Thanks to you and Paula for a delightful dinner and the chance to see the Fishing Bay Yacht Club’s hospitality.

Best Regards,

C. William Lapworth

The sailing world will truly miss Bill Lapworth, the gentleman sailor and influential yacht designer who contributed so much to our sport.