East Passage Boatrights is a wooden boat construction and restoration business located in Bristol, RI. The three founders of the company were all IYRS graduates. Carter Richardson (’04) and Seth Hagen (’02) continue to run the business, while Nick Eide (’04), made the decision to return to his native state of Minnesota to be closer to family. Although EPB is only three years old, the business has managed to attract a loyal following of committed boat owners to restore some of New England’s finest yachts. The most notable among EPB’s past projects include a 1947 30’ International Dragon, a 1935 54’ Sparkman and Stephens sloop, a 1937 53’ Sparkman and Stephens yawl, and a 1952 33’ 5.5 Metre. The Dragon was the young business’s first project and a project of which EPB is very proud.

D US 2 Singoalla

The story behind: The International Dragon was designed by Johan Anker in 1929 as a small cruising boat, complete with two births, to be sailed off the coast of Norway. The design quickly gained popularity and in 1948 it was selected as an Olympic Class boat, an honor it retained until the Munich Games of 1972. In 1973 the first fiberglass Dragon was certified and a cold molded version was soon added. There are over 1400 Dragons registered around the world, evidence that the Dragon is the only one design class that has maintained their popularity after leaving the Olympics. Today classic wooden Dragons can be seen racing competitively with the modern Dragons. Singoalla was built in 1947 in Grimstad Norway and with the sail number of D US2 is the second boat to be registered in the United States. She is planked with Douglas Fir over White Oak frames. Her keel is also White Oak. Her deck is Larch with Mahogany covering boards on Douglas Fir deck beams. She has come to East Passage Boatwrights for a structural restoration of the hull and deck with the ultimate goal of getting her recertified by the International Dragon Association. Upon completion she can be seen sailing off Long Island.

The project: The Dragon project was a restoration in the truest since of the word. Great effort was put forth in order to preserve original materials where ever possible. The original top side planking was all reused as well as the original stem, cabin house, cockpit coamings, cockpit seating, sheer clamps, ballast, and hardware. Because of the use of iron centerline bolts, most of the centerline was replaced with new white oak as well as all new frames and floors. The iron ballast was sand blasted and encapsulated in epoxy. The top of the ballast was coated with fiberglass cloth in order to separate it the iron from the keel. In order to avoid dis-similar metals in contact with one another, the decision was made to replace keel bolts with galvanized steel bolts, great care was taken to separate the keel bolts from the floors and keel. All bolt holes were lined with phenolic tube and the phenolic washer were used at the top of the floors, so there is not direct contact between the wood timbers and the iron ballast and bolts. A sitka spruce deck was laid with 1/8” marine plywood and dynel glued on top to provide additional torsion support. The original boom was reused, but the mast was delaminating, so a new sitka spruce mast was produced. Because the Dragon class is still very active, careful consideration was made in order to ensure that the hull will be allowed to race as a dragon in sanctioned events.

See more photos on Dragon project

Sonny

Sonny and Skylark, both Sparkman and Stephens designs from the mid 1930’s, followed in succession for the winter of ’07-’08 and the winter of ’08-‘09. Sonny, a 54’ sloop, was built at the Jacob’s yard in City Island, New York in 1935. She had undergone a significant restoration in Italy in 2000, but upon arriving in Rhode Island she was found to have a large number of broken frames in area forward of the mast. After removing the galley and fo’c’s’le furniture, 20 broken frames were removed and replaced. While the framing was taking place, the mast partner was jacked up into proper camber and a new mast truss system and compression post were installed. Sister frames were added as needed in the lazarette. Because the salon and owner’s stateroom areas had been reframed in the 1970’s with laminated frames, no new frames were required through the middle of the boat. Sonny can be seen racing in classic yacht races throughout New England, but she hails from Newport and usually docks at IYRS.

See more photos on Sonny project

Skylark

Skylark, a 53’ yawl, was built at the Pendleton Yacht Yard in Wiscasset, Maine in 1937. Originally launched as Vryling, she spent much of time sailing off of the west coast. In 2003 a restoration effort began in Portsmouth, RI. By the time Skylark arrived at the Bristol shop of EPB, the hull, deck and much of the interior had been restored. EPB was contracted to complete the interior, fabricate and install deck joinery, locate and install the deck hardware, manage the systems installation, and manage the design and construction of a new boom. New deck hatches, cockpit well, cockpit coamings, and caprails were made out of teak. The crew really enjoyed the opportunity to cut dovetails and produce the quality work that would be visible under the varnish. Skylark spent the summer of 2010 in the water in Newport where the final details of the restoration were completed. In August, the sea trials were a great success and the old girl sailed again for the first time in over ten years. Although Skylark is for sale, the hope is for her to remain in Narragansett Bay so that she can join Dorade and Sonny in a Sparkman and Stephens reunion.

See more photos on Skylark project

22' Tripp Angler - Waterlily

Waterlily is a 22’ Tripp Angler built by F.L. Tripp & Sons in Westport Point, Massachusetts in 1983. F.L. Tripp & Sons has been in business for over 70 years producing world renowned boats, and being a family business they are in their third generation of operation. The owner acquired Waterlily 5 years ago but wanted to look at more than gel coat. He decided on some teak accents and we helped him out. In 2005 a teak transom was installed. In 2007 we added teak coamings. The overall effect is dramatic as can be seen in the photos.