Length: 28′ 6″
Length on Waterline: 23′ 2″
Beam: 9′ 6″
Draft: 5′ 4″
Sail area: 636 sq.ft.
Designer: W.A. Morse and Joel White
Construction: Carvel planked — northern white cedar on white oak frames
Builders: WoodenBoat School students, ’87 to ’92
Instructor: Gordon Swift
Usual location: Mooring
Comments: Jon Wilson found smallscale drawings for this vessel in a 1907 issue of Boating magazine (no relation to the contemporary magazine). Taken with the lines, Jon published the original plans in WoodenBoat #2 and later asked Joel White to create working drawings. These were eventually given to builder Gordon Swift and WoodenBoat School for actual construction. Upon completion, the boat would become a “floating classroom” in the School’s seamanship program. Over six summers (2 weeks a summer for 5 seasons and 4 weeks for 1 season) Swifty led an assortment of dedicated students through the lofting process, set-up, framing, planking, decking, house construction, and rigging. In 1992 the BELFORD GRAY was launched at Brooklin Boat Yard before a large crowd of friends and wellwishers of the School. The sloop is named after a highly regarded boatbuilder, instructor, and friend of WoodenBoat School. After a summer of sea trials, a series of seamanship courses have been offered on her each year. With plenty of lines to handle, she has proven herself to be a wonderful teaching tool and is very capable in both light and stiff breezes. With the passing of each sailing season, this Friendship Sloop is fast becoming a familiar and friendly sight in local waters.
Note: The BELFORD GRAY is not available to students to use on their own. She is used in sailing courses and by our staff. If interested, ask the waterfront staff when she might have room for crew.