Myron Spaulding
Encyclopedia
Myron Spaulding was a renowned American
sailor
, yacht
designer and builder and concert
violin
ist in Sausalito, California
.
sailors during the days when boats were made of wood and built locally by expert craftsmen. An accomplished concert violinist, Myron Spaulding performed professionally for many years, including with the San Francisco Symphony
. It was, however, as a sailboat
designer, builder and sailor, that Spaulding left his mark on the Bay Area.
Spaulding moved to San Francisco, California
as a boy in 1915. He received his credential in naval architecture and boatbuilding from the Polytechnic High School in San Francisco in 1923, and designed and built his first small boat while in school. It was there that he earned an additional degree in music, playing the violin. Following graduation, Spaulding played violin in the Fox Theatre's vaudeville orchestra, for silent movie houses, for the ballet, and eventually earned a seat with the San Francisco Symphony and performed with them until 1957. At the same time, he was racing and winning several class championships in the Bird class, Stars and 6-Meters. He also participated in six TransPacific
races from San Francisco to Honolulu. The highlight of his racing career was winning the 1936 TransPac
as skipper of the famous Sparkman & Stephens-designed 52 feet (15.8 m) yawl
Dorade. Spaulding opened a naval architecture office in San Francisco before World War II. His first significant design was the 20 feet (6.1 m) Clipper. In addition to the Clipper class, he created the Spaulding 33, which can still be seen on San Francisco Bay, as well as notable custom boats, including the 50 feet (15.2 m) yawl Suomi and the 45 feet (13.7 m) yawl Chrysopyle.
During World War II, he worked at the Madden & Lewis shipyard in Sausalito building 60 feet (18.3 m) tow boats and 110 feet (33.5 m) subchasers
, then spent a couple of years as a marine surveyor
before leasing property near McNear’s Beach in the late 1940s, where he repaired boats, continued with survey work and designed and built the 36 feet (11 m) Buoyant Girl. After losing his lease to make way for development, he returned to Sausalito in 1951 and bought the present waterfront site of Spaulding Boatworks at the foot of Gate Five Road.
Myron Spaulding died in the fall of 2000 at the age of 94. Myron Spaulding’s widow, Gladys, died a little more than a year and a half later and left the Spaulding Boatworks in charitable trust, with instructions for the trustees to form a non-profit corporation, named the Spaulding Wooden Boat Center
(SWBC). Today, the SWBC is a working and living museum, with the mission to restore and return to active use significant, historic wooden sailing vessels; preserve and enhance its working boatyard; create a place where people can gather to use, enjoy, and learn about wooden boats; and educate others about wooden boat building skills, traditions and values.
Myron Spaulding's design collection is at the San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
sailor
Sailor
A sailor, mariner, or seaman is a person who navigates water-borne vessels or assists in their operation, maintenance, or service. The term can apply to professional mariners, military personnel, and recreational sailors as well as a plethora of other uses...
, yacht
Yacht
A yacht is a recreational boat or ship. The term originated from the Dutch Jacht meaning "hunt". It was originally defined as a light fast sailing vessel used by the Dutch navy to pursue pirates and other transgressors around and into the shallow waters of the Low Countries...
designer and builder and concert
Concert
A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...
violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ist in Sausalito, California
Sausalito, California
Sausalito is a San Francisco Bay Area city, in Marin County, California, United States. Sausalito is south-southeast of San Rafael, at an elevation of 13 feet . The population was 7,061 as of the 2010 census. The community is situated near the northern end of the Golden Gate Bridge, and prior to...
.
Life
Myron Spaulding was well known on the Sausalito waterfront in the mid and late 1900s, and exerted a strong influence on San Francisco BaySan Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
sailors during the days when boats were made of wood and built locally by expert craftsmen. An accomplished concert violinist, Myron Spaulding performed professionally for many years, including with the San Francisco Symphony
San Francisco Symphony
The San Francisco Symphony is an orchestra based in San Francisco, California. Since 1980, the orchestra has performed at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall. The San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra and the San Francisco Symphony Chorus are part of the organization...
. It was, however, as a sailboat
Sailboat
A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails. The term covers a variety of boats, larger than small vessels such as sailboards and smaller than sailing ships, but distinctions in the size are not strictly defined and what constitutes a sailing ship, sailboat, or a...
designer, builder and sailor, that Spaulding left his mark on the Bay Area.
Spaulding moved to San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
as a boy in 1915. He received his credential in naval architecture and boatbuilding from the Polytechnic High School in San Francisco in 1923, and designed and built his first small boat while in school. It was there that he earned an additional degree in music, playing the violin. Following graduation, Spaulding played violin in the Fox Theatre's vaudeville orchestra, for silent movie houses, for the ballet, and eventually earned a seat with the San Francisco Symphony and performed with them until 1957. At the same time, he was racing and winning several class championships in the Bird class, Stars and 6-Meters. He also participated in six TransPacific
Transpacific Yacht Race
The Transpacific Yacht Race is an offshore yacht race starting off Point Fermin, San Pedro, near Los Angeles, and ending off Diamond Head Lighthouse in Honolulu, a distance of around . Started in 1906, it is one of yachting's premier offshore races and attracts entrants from all over the world...
races from San Francisco to Honolulu. The highlight of his racing career was winning the 1936 TransPac
Transpacific Yacht Race
The Transpacific Yacht Race is an offshore yacht race starting off Point Fermin, San Pedro, near Los Angeles, and ending off Diamond Head Lighthouse in Honolulu, a distance of around . Started in 1906, it is one of yachting's premier offshore races and attracts entrants from all over the world...
as skipper of the famous Sparkman & Stephens-designed 52 feet (15.8 m) yawl
Yawl
A yawl is a two-masted sailing craft similar to a sloop or cutter but with an additional mast located well aft of the main mast, often right on the transom, specifically aft of the rudder post. A yawl (from Dutch Jol) is a two-masted sailing craft similar to a sloop or cutter but with an...
Dorade. Spaulding opened a naval architecture office in San Francisco before World War II. His first significant design was the 20 feet (6.1 m) Clipper. In addition to the Clipper class, he created the Spaulding 33, which can still be seen on San Francisco Bay, as well as notable custom boats, including the 50 feet (15.2 m) yawl Suomi and the 45 feet (13.7 m) yawl Chrysopyle.
During World War II, he worked at the Madden & Lewis shipyard in Sausalito building 60 feet (18.3 m) tow boats and 110 feet (33.5 m) subchasers
Submarine chaser
A submarine chaser is a small and fast naval vessel specially intended for anti-submarine warfare. Although similar vessels were designed and used by many nations, this designation was most famously used by ships built by the United States of America...
, then spent a couple of years as a marine surveyor
Marine surveyor
A Marine Surveyor is a person who conducts inspections, surveys or examinations of marine vessels to assess, monitor and report on their condition and the products on them. Marine Surveyors also inspect equipment intended for new or existing vessels to ensure compliance with various standards or...
before leasing property near McNear’s Beach in the late 1940s, where he repaired boats, continued with survey work and designed and built the 36 feet (11 m) Buoyant Girl. After losing his lease to make way for development, he returned to Sausalito in 1951 and bought the present waterfront site of Spaulding Boatworks at the foot of Gate Five Road.
Myron Spaulding died in the fall of 2000 at the age of 94. Myron Spaulding’s widow, Gladys, died a little more than a year and a half later and left the Spaulding Boatworks in charitable trust, with instructions for the trustees to form a non-profit corporation, named the Spaulding Wooden Boat Center
Spaulding Wooden Boat Center
The Spaulding Wooden Boat Center , in Sausalito, California, is a living museum where one can go back in time to experience the days when craftsmen and sailors used traditional skills to build, sail or row classic wooden boats on San Francisco Bay....
(SWBC). Today, the SWBC is a working and living museum, with the mission to restore and return to active use significant, historic wooden sailing vessels; preserve and enhance its working boatyard; create a place where people can gather to use, enjoy, and learn about wooden boats; and educate others about wooden boat building skills, traditions and values.
Myron Spaulding's design collection is at the San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park.
Boats designed
- Nautigal. Custom 38 feet (11.6 m) sloop. Built in 1938.
- Suomi. Custom 50 feet (15.2 m) yawl. Built in 1947.
- Lark III. Custom 34 feet (10.4 m) sloop.
- Buoyant Girl. Custom 37 feet (11.3 m). Built in 1949. Model of boat is in Commodore's Room at San Francisco Yacht Club in Belvedere, CaliforniaBelvedere, CaliforniaBelvedere is an affluent city in Marin County, California, United States. Belvedere is located northeast of Sausalito, at an elevation of 36 feet...
. - Clipper class 20 feet (6.1 m) sloops (63 built)
- Spaulding 33 (9 built, possibly more)
- Chrysopyle Custom 45 feet (13.7 m) yawl. Built in 1961.
- Spaulding 28 (One boat built. Started in 1958 and completed in 2006)
Sailboat races
- 1936 Transpacific Yacht RaceTranspacific Yacht RaceThe Transpacific Yacht Race is an offshore yacht race starting off Point Fermin, San Pedro, near Los Angeles, and ending off Diamond Head Lighthouse in Honolulu, a distance of around . Started in 1906, it is one of yachting's premier offshore races and attracts entrants from all over the world...
as master and navigator of 52 feet (15.8 m) yawl Dorade. First, first in class and first overall. (D:H:M:S: Elapsed: 13:07:20:04; Corrected: 11:03:29:44) - Five additional Transpacs as sailing master and/or navigator.
- 1939 Successfully defended San Francisco Perpetual Trophy. 6-meter Saga of St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco defeated 6-meter Rebel of Los Angeles Yacht Club.
- 1946 Successfully defended San Francisco Perpetual Trophy. 8-meter Hussy of Corinthian Yacht Club in TiburonTiburon, CaliforniaTiburon is an incorporated town in Marin County, California. It occupies most of the Tiburon Peninsula, which reaches south into the San Francisco Bay. The smaller city of Belvedere occupies the south-east part of the peninsula and is contiguous with Tiburon...
defeated the 46 feet (14 m) sloop Amorita of NewportNewport Beach, CaliforniaNewport Beach, incorporated in 1906, is a city in Orange County, California, south of downtown Santa Ana. The population was 85,186 at the 2010 census.The city's median family income and property values consistently place high in national rankings...
Harbor Yacht Club.
Reputation & legacy
See also
- Spaulding Wooden Boat CenterSpaulding Wooden Boat CenterThe Spaulding Wooden Boat Center , in Sausalito, California, is a living museum where one can go back in time to experience the days when craftsmen and sailors used traditional skills to build, sail or row classic wooden boats on San Francisco Bay....
- List of sailboat designers and manufacturers
- Yacht racingYacht racingYacht racing is the sport of competitive yachting.While sailing groups organize the most active and popular competitive yachting, other boating events are also held world-wide: speed motorboat racing; competitive canoeing, kayaking, and rowing; model yachting; and navigational contests Yacht racing...
- Sausalito, CaliforniaSausalito, CaliforniaSausalito is a San Francisco Bay Area city, in Marin County, California, United States. Sausalito is south-southeast of San Rafael, at an elevation of 13 feet . The population was 7,061 as of the 2010 census. The community is situated near the northern end of the Golden Gate Bridge, and prior to...
Further reading
- Maguire, Matt. "Myron Spaulding, Navigating Through the Years", InMarin, Volume 3, Issue 11, December 1991, pp. 12-18
- Sausalito Historical Society. Sausalito (Images of America). San Francisco: Arcadia Publishing, 2005. ISBN 0-7385-3036-0
- Tracy, Jack. Sausalito Moments in Time: A Pictorial History of Sausalito 1850-1950. Sausalito:Windgate PressWindgate PressWindgate Press is a small American publisher located in Sausalito, California whose focus is on San Francisco and California photographic history....
1983. " Roana Spaulding 1992. ISBN 0-915269-00-7