Nautical Research Journal 291


1. Fred Martin’s drawings of his 8-foot Yacht Tender, scanned from an original catalog.


Modeling a pair of 8-foot washstrake dinghies, Part 1 By Steve Wheeler


T is little boat, whose dimensions were 8 feet length overall, 42 inches in beam, and 13 inches in depth (exclusive of the washstrake), was designed about 1895 by naval architect Fred W Martin (1860-1903) for use as a yacht tender or general purpose small dinghy. Martin was one of the few designers of the era who published hull lines, deck plans, and (in some cases) construction drawings for all of his designs and we are fortunate to have his drawings for this one. He was prolifi c, having made literally hundreds of designs ranging from this little 8-footer to a 120- foot river steamer. He was well versed in everything from mundane small craſt to gasoline and steam yachts and sailboats in all sizes, and he published some of his work in four separate design catalogs,


all of which are extant today. His designs encompass a unique time capsule of boat and yacht types from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth centuries. Martin, who today is both under-rated and almost completely unknown, worked in Racine, Wisconsin from 1891 to 1899, having previously been employed in Clayton, New York at the St. Lawrence River Skiff , Canoe, and Steam Launch Company and, for a time, at a boatyard in Waukegan, Illinois. Later, until his death, he again worked in Waukegan. It is also known that he worked for a time with J H Rushton at his canoe business. Martin was instrumental in fostering the fi ve boat-building fi rms that formed a major industry in Racine for a 50-year period, neatly centered on the turn of


the twentieth century. A


history of those boatyards, and Martin’s involvement in them can be found in a seven-part article by this author that appeared in these pages beginning with Volume 45, No.2 (Spring 2000) and concluding in Volume 48, No.4 (Winter 2003).


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