Minto Sailing Dinghy
Encyclopedia
The Minto Sailing Dinghy is a sailing dinghy first produced commercially in the early 1960 and still in production.
for a 24 foot sloop
built by Hugh Rodd at Canoe Cove on Vancouver Island
. The sloop was commissioned by a Vancouver Island printer who had made some money from an investment in the Minto Mine in British Columbia
, and hence he named the sloop "Minto". After returning from World War II
in 1946 Rob Wittlesey purchased the Minto and shortly thereafter traded the skiff, with "MINTO RVYC" carved into its transom, to Bob Schoen of Orcas Island
for a smaller dinghy.
. Heine took the skiff to Ed Hoppen, the Gig Harbor boat builder who was the original builder of the popular Thunderbird
sailboats. After cutting out about two feet and reshaping the hull, Dole and Hoppen used the old Minto skiff as the plug for the first fiberglass Minto mold. Initially the objective was to only build five boats for themselves, Bob Schoen, and some friends. Hull number one was destroyed in trying to remove it from the mold, but hulls two through six did survive and are still in use today. As interest in the attractive little boats grew Hoppen was prompted by numerous requests to put the Minto into regular production. Ed Hoppen produced a couple hundred EDDON Boat Yard Minto's in the early 1960s, and then in the mid-1960s licensed Howard Smith, the owner of Ranger Boats
in Kent, Washington, to add the Minto to his increasing line of small rowing and sailing craft. Until Ranger was sold in 1999, "Smitty" produced about 1000 Ranger Minto's, becoming one of the most popular and recognized yacht tenders in the NW.
Although the little steamship graphic displayed on the sails of the EDDON, Ranger and Rich Passage Boats Minto dinghies implies a direct link to the SS Minto steamship that operated on Arrow Lake in British Columbia for over 50 years, the association was created by Ed and Heine. They were looking for a way to make the new little fiberglass dinghy distinctive and they thought there was a similarity to the life boats used on the SS Minto and so chose the steamship graphic for the Minto.
Initial version
The Minto Sailing Dinghy began its life as a skiffSkiff
The term skiff is used for a number of essentially unrelated styles of small boat. The word is related to ship and has a complicated etymology: "skiff" comes from the Middle English skif, which derives from the Old French esquif, which in turn derives from the Old Italian schifo, which is itself of...
for a 24 foot sloop
Sloop
A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....
built by Hugh Rodd at Canoe Cove on Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island is a large island in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several North American locations named after George Vancouver, the British Royal Navy officer who explored the Pacific Northwest coast of North America between 1791 and 1794...
. The sloop was commissioned by a Vancouver Island printer who had made some money from an investment in the Minto Mine in British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, and hence he named the sloop "Minto". After returning from World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
in 1946 Rob Wittlesey purchased the Minto and shortly thereafter traded the skiff, with "MINTO RVYC" carved into its transom, to Bob Schoen of Orcas Island
Orcas Island
Orcas Island is the largest of the San Juan Islands, which are located in the northwestern corner of Washington state in San Juan County, Washington.-History:...
for a smaller dinghy.
First commercial fiberglass version
The Minto skiff eventually got stored in Bob's barn, where his friend Heine Dole, a NW marine architect, saw it and convinced Bob it would make a great dinghy reproduced in fiberglassFiberglass
Glass fiber is a material consisting of numerous extremely fine fibers of glass.Glassmakers throughout history have experimented with glass fibers, but mass manufacture of glass fiber was only made possible with the invention of finer machine tooling...
. Heine took the skiff to Ed Hoppen, the Gig Harbor boat builder who was the original builder of the popular Thunderbird
Thunderbird Products
Thunderbird was started as a boat company by Woodie Woodson in 1956 in Miami, Florida. The primary design for Thunderbird boats originally consisted of a tri-hull or cathedral hull design.-History:...
sailboats. After cutting out about two feet and reshaping the hull, Dole and Hoppen used the old Minto skiff as the plug for the first fiberglass Minto mold. Initially the objective was to only build five boats for themselves, Bob Schoen, and some friends. Hull number one was destroyed in trying to remove it from the mold, but hulls two through six did survive and are still in use today. As interest in the attractive little boats grew Hoppen was prompted by numerous requests to put the Minto into regular production. Ed Hoppen produced a couple hundred EDDON Boat Yard Minto's in the early 1960s, and then in the mid-1960s licensed Howard Smith, the owner of Ranger Boats
Ranger Boats
Ranger Boats are a popular line of bass fishing boats designed primarily for blackbass fishing. The company was founded in 1968 by Forrest L. Wood in Flippin, Arkansas. Ranger is generally credited with the introduction of the modern bass boat....
in Kent, Washington, to add the Minto to his increasing line of small rowing and sailing craft. Until Ranger was sold in 1999, "Smitty" produced about 1000 Ranger Minto's, becoming one of the most popular and recognized yacht tenders in the NW.
Although the little steamship graphic displayed on the sails of the EDDON, Ranger and Rich Passage Boats Minto dinghies implies a direct link to the SS Minto steamship that operated on Arrow Lake in British Columbia for over 50 years, the association was created by Ed and Heine. They were looking for a way to make the new little fiberglass dinghy distinctive and they thought there was a similarity to the life boats used on the SS Minto and so chose the steamship graphic for the Minto.