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The return of Ticonderoga

The Ticonderoga undergoing her first significant refit in 30 years. Photo by David Stewart

October 2021

By Capt. Michael L. Martel

Good men do not let good boats die.

This thought, like an ancient proverb, came to me and stuck in my head following a recent conversation with Captain Guillaume Touhadian, Captain of the classic L. Francis Herreshoff sailing yacht Ticonderoga. Captain Guillaume had been inaccessible for a few days while he and his crew worked feverishly on a comprehensive refit of the 1936 72-foot, clipper-bowed ketch. He’d had no time to talk, then, but now he could. Ticonderoga was in the water again at a dock in the Taunton River, Mass., and he admitted that he could finally step back and look at her with deep satisfaction and pride. She had not looked like this in quite some time and the reality of it caused him to draw in a deep breath and to quietly appreciate how far she had come. She has been his charge now for some six years all told.

Good men do not let great boats die; indeed, good men become caretakers instead. Ticonderoga is restored and beautiful, once more, and the great road that is built over the waters of this world will once again take her to her winter’s playground in St. Bart’s, around the classic yacht racing circuit, and then back up to her summer home in Greenwich, Conn., as her cycle of passage takes her every year.

A legendary classic sailboat designed by L. Francis Herreshoff for the intrepid yachtsman Harry Noyes, the 72-foot, clipper-bowed ketch was originally named Tioga II. Her second owner bought the boat, but not the name, and while doodling with pencil emblazoned with the brand name Ticonderoga, he saw the answer that kept intact both the letters and the intent of her original name. Over the decades there have been several owners, each with a story all their own. Tioga was initially conceived as a family day sailer.

Designed in a year, building began in 1936 at the Quincy Adams Yacht Yard in Massachusetts. Tioga of Marblehead was designed with performance in mind. Harry Noyes, a man of means, owned larger vessels for cruising purposes, and meter boats to satisfy his racing whims.

Currently, she is owned by L. Scott Frantz, of Greenwich, Conn. “He’s been very dedicated to the boat,” Guillaume says, “You know, he’s 61 and he’s owned the boat since he was 32 years old.”

Her last major refit was 30 years ago in the U.K. Since then, everything about her has aged, of course, so this refit, overseen by Guillaume, has focused primarily on systems replacement and upgrades, from engine to electronics to wood.

Ti has been repowered; her tired, late `60s rebuilt Detroit diesel engine has been replaced with a more environmentally-friendly power plant. The refit was interrupted for nearly a year by the pandemic and restricted travel.

Her high-quality old Burmese teak deck was found to be in great shape, so it was heavily refinished. New sails were bent on only days ago (mid-September).

Electrolysis issues and “currents running everywhere” in the hull caused some delignification issues that had to be addressed with wood replacement and corrections to the electrical and grounding systems, all made somewhat more difficult by the fact that Ti is double-planked. A new generator, single 12V system and new LED lighting, plus new Garmin electronics for navigation round out the improvements. Many upgrades were designed to support a lower electrical power demand goal.

A new up to date air-cooled refrigeration system allowed the elimination of some through-hulls that weren’t needed anymore. As any boat owner knows, fewer holes in the hull is always a good thing.

“One major thing we did, which was mandatory after so much work inside, was to completely repaint and re-varnish every square inch down below,” Guillaume says. “And that took a crew of seven guys from Antigua close to 12 to 14 weeks, working six days per week.” He found them temporary living accommodations a few miles away in Fall River, and they worked non-stop. Some of them, Guillaume says, have been involved with the boat for almost three decades. The yard, Bristol Marine, didn’t object. “They were working under my guidance, and are considered crew, so accommodating that arrangement was a nice gesture by Bristol Marine,” Guillaume says.

She’s rigged, the bunks have new sheets and mattresses, the new stewardess has made the beds for the first time, Guillaume says, and the new cook is aboard. There is some rig tuning to do and small tweaks and adjustments, part of the endless cycle. Next, Ti heads for Greenwich, and eventually she will make her way to Nelson’s Dockyard, in English Harbour, Antigua, before heading to Gustavia, St. Bart’s, where her next big event will be participation in the Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta at the end of March. Then she will head north once again for Greenwich and summer in New England.

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L. Francis Herreshoff TICONDEROGA

Sail Number: 100

Type: Ketch

LOA: – LOD: 71’11” / 21.92m – LWL: 65′10″ / 20.06m – Beam: 16′ 0″ / 4.87m – Draft: 7′ 9″ / 2.36m – Displacement: 108,288 lbs – Ballast 30,750 lbs – Sail Area: 2,897 sq ft – Design Number: 66 – Designer: L.F. Herreshoff – Built by: Quincy Adams YT, YD, Inc, Quincy, Ma – Year Built: 1936 – Original Owner Harry Noyes. – Engine: Detroit 4-53 – hp 128 – Flag: USA (US) – Location: Marine Traffic  

A legendary classic sailboat designed by L. Francis Herreshoff for the intrepid yachtsman Harry Noyes, the 72-foot, clipper-bowed ketch was originally named Tioga II of Marblehead. Her second owner bought the boat, but not the name, and while doodling with pencil emblazoned with the brand name Ticonderoga, he saw the answer that kept intact both the letters and the intent of her original name. Over the decades there’s been a series of owners, each with a story all their own — some wore her down, others bestowed lavished refits.

L. Francis Herreshoff was the son of yacht designer Nat Herreshoff, often called “The Wizard of Bristol,” L. Francis, however, was an independent thinker. He demonstrated his independence by setting up shop in the design office of Burgess, Swasey & Paine, a gifted group of Boston naval architects, and arch competitors of his father.

Starling Burgess took the young Herreshoff under his wing and was certainly instrumental in his early career. The firm’s awareness of materials and structures as well as fair hull shapes helped L. Francis develop a keen eye for both grace and seaworthiness. Preceding Tioga of Marblehead, on Herreshoff’s drawing board was a ketch named Joann (eventually renamed Brigadoon), and the Tioga of Boston. Both boats were designed and built for Waldo Brown. It was Tioga of Boston that caught Harry Noyes’ attention, and before long he convinced Brown to sell him the ketch. After only one season he went directly to Herreshoff for a bigger, faster rendition of the 57-foot ketch, and an evolution in yacht design would yield revolutionary results.

Designed in a year, building began in 1936 at the Quincy Adams Yacht Yard in Massachusetts. Tioga of Marblehead was designed with performance in mind but rating rules had been ignored. Harry Noyes, a man of means, owned larger vessels for cruising purposes, and meter boats to satisfy his racing whims. Tioga was initially conceived as a family day sailer. As with all custom boat building projects, the art lay in the owner/client pas de deux, which, in this case, would prove to be more than a complex duet.

The building process was complicated by the fact that Noyes was both Herreshoff’s client, and the owner of the shipyard that would build the boat. Changes from the design, no matter how small, became major issues of contention — to the point where Herreshoff chose not to attend or was not invited to the launching. At one point, he was queried as to why there was such modest headroom and his response was quite straightforward. “The boat’s a day sailer, not a goddamned dance hall!”

The post-Depression era at the Quincy Adams Yacht Yard was a time when craftsmen were glad to have work, and they plied their skills as artisans rather than as assembly-line workers. Ti’s scantlings were lighter than the more crudely built vessels of the day, but her backbone was made of good Yankee white oak, and her planks of carefully chosen, bronze-fastened tropical mahogany. The Port Orford cedar decking would prove to be an inferior choice, and her new fangled hollow Sitka spruce spars would be too flexible. An extra layer of spruce would eventually be added at the Luders yacht yard in Stamford, Conn.

A big mistake was averted during the building process when the yard foreman insisted on keel bolts with nuts at both ends. Herreshoff’s design called for heavy lag bolts to be screwed into the antimony-treated lead. This procedure would soon fall out of favor due to the nasty habit of ballast keels pulling away from such a lag bolt attachment.

The day of the big event drew a crowd to the Quincy yard and just as the regal ketch began to slide down the tallow-slick ways, a gunshot-like crack signaled the collapse of the bracing. As Tioga of Marblehead began to exit the shed she rolled onto her side, hitting the water and unleashing 30,000 pounds of external lead and a force that brought the big ketch abruptly back onto her feet. Three crewmembers flew from one side of the foredeck to the other — whip-lashed by the boat’s substantial righting movement. The awe struck crowd were of two opinions — either this would be a very special boat, or bad omens were already at play.

As with most new boats, perfection may have been the target, but the mark did, in some ways, fall a little short. Most noticeable was the fact that Big Ti sat quite low on her lines, mostly due to what had been added during the building process, usually under designer protest. What started out as a large but simple day sailer, had shouldered the extra weight of a generator, bronze radiators and boiler-fired heating system, a large refrigerator and deep freeze, two showers, and a cast iron bathtub, along with large tanks for water and fuel.

Despite these few shortfalls, the big ketch proved herself more than a decent day sailer, and before long Noyes and a long list of subsequent owners were planning for the next ocean race she would enter — and more often than not, finish in-the-money. Line honors and course records began to stack up in 1936, and 30 years later, Ti was still at it — setting the record for the Los Angeles to Honolulu Race. In between, she carved tracks in the ocean between Tahiti and Copenhagen, not just arriving at those landfalls but setting course records for offshore races. Her long waterline and split rig made her a reaching machine and despite her low freeboard, a very seakindly sailboat.

Decades of being driven hard and put away wet takes a toll on any vessel, and Ti’s first crucial refit came after she took on a coat of gray paint and did her service in World War II. Years of patrol duty off the East Coast turned a fine yacht into a worn out work boat — and with her return to civilian life came the ongoing challenge of keeping an aging yacht fit for sea.

Perhaps Ti’s best patron was owner Bob Voit who shouldered a full restoration done at Southampton Yacht Services in England in 1988. The refit estimate was twice what he had paid for the vessel, and included 90 new frames and replanking from the waterline up. Below the waterline the planking had been done by Spencer’s yard in Florida some years before. The deck beams and decks were also to be replaced and a new Munford interior was painstakingly fitted. New systems were also added to the list, and the bottom line rolled in at over $900,000, a bargain in today’s rates.

Tom Reardon, Ti’s pro skipper for the last 21 years, points to a few key factors done during this refit that have really helped the boat to stand up to the test of time. The first was prompted by the industry’s wise avoidance of white lead, a product that worked well between layers of double-planked hulls, but not in the humans who handled the toxic substance. In lieu of the lead, the yard chose a new polyurethane sealant called 5200, manufactured by 3M. The crew slathered on this miracle whip, coating the space between the double-planked hull. Its rugged adhesive quality and its elasticity proved to be the perfect product for the job. Another wise decision was to build a one-inch thick Bruynzeel plywood sub-deck, and then glue rather than mechanically fasten one-inch teak on top. The rock solid results have kept the deck and hull from working, and today the boat is still going strong thanks to that 1988 restoration.

Just as Bob Voit proved to be a true benefactor and aid to Ticonderoga’s longevity, her current owner, Scott Frantz, also sees the big ketch as a floating national treasure. He has worked hard to keep this classic yacht thriving in her golden years. During his ownership he’s cruised Ti in the Mediterranean, raced her in the Caribbean and done Down East club cruises in New England. Swapping seasons between the tropics and New England, Ticonderoga is based out of Antigua in the winter and home-ported in Greenwich, Conn., during the summer.

Short-handed passagemaking has been facilitated by Ti’s split rig and fairly low aspect ratio sail plan. There are no furling headsails or in-spar reefing systems, simply conventional piston hanking jibs set on the foredeck under sail covers. Each is hanked to an individual stay and ready to be hoisted. The mainsail is more than 1,200 square feet, but Reardon points out that he can sail locally “with a crew of three and me,” and ups the team by two when making a passage to or from the Caribbean.

Ticonderoga is a living legend that’s still going strong, and her story is replete with the lure of the sea, the feel of a wooden hull and the tales of the characters who have kept her on course.

Provenance (The Wall of Remembrance – The Owners, Crew & Notable Guest):

Owner/Guardian: (1936) – Harry Noyes, Marblehead, Mass. Owner/Guardian: (1942) – War service, U.S. Coast Guard (submarine patrol) Owner/Guardian: Allen Pinkerton Carlisle and John Hertz Jr., father founded Hertz Rent-A-Car. Owner/Guardian: (1963) – Robert Johnson, Oregonian lumberman purchased vessel for $50,000 (vessel became known as Big Ti, transformed into a famous ocean racer. Owner/Guardian: (1971) – Ken & Fran MacKenzie Owner/Guardian: Bob Voit Captain: Tom Reardon Deckhand: Johan Bouvin Deckhand: Curtis Barton Owner/Guardian: (1993) – Scott and Icy Frantz

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Classic sailing with Jimmy Buffett on fast track to Key West

By Craig Davis, Craigslegztravels.com

Until Henry Flagler built his overseas railroad through the Florida Keys, the only way to get to Key West was by boat.

The Fort Lauderdale to Key West sailing race has been celebrating that heritage for the past 42 years.

In 1980, as a sports writer covering the race, an invitation to sail in the crew aboard Ticonderoga , provided a rare opportunity to make the journey to the southernmost city in one of the most storied ocean sailing yachts.

An unexpected bonus came upon boarding before the race in Fort Lauderdale and discovering that Jimmy Buffett was also part of the crew.

At the time, Buffett was synonymous with Key West and sailing. But on this voyage, the undisputed rock star was Ticonderoga . Buffett, the renowned son of a son of a sailor, was as enthralled by L. Francis Herreshoff’s legendary yacht as the rest of us.

Buffett Backstories: Book sheds light on 50 Jimmy Buffett songs, Key West

Below is the tale as I reported it in January 1980:

Singer/sailor Jimmy Buffett was perched on the bowsprit of the yacht Ticonderoga in a pose suitable for an album cover when a shackle on the mast snapped and the jib came tumbling down.

Rudely awakened from his shipboard reverie, Buffett, the king of Margaritaville, reacted like any good deck hand would and began hauling in the wildly flapping sail.

With help it was soon under control, but the big old ketch had lost considerable speed without the driving force of its forward sail.

A couple of other boats in Ticonderoga ’s class in the Fort Lauderdale to key West Race were already pulling away. It was Thursday morning and the 160-mile chase was barely underway with the aid of a firm northeast breeze under a pure blue sky on a placid, sparkling sea.

“I was just sitting up there daydreaming and I saw it let go,” Buffett said as he watched crewman Joey Tress climb hand over hand up the shrouds of the 85-foot main mast to retrieve the jib halyard.

Tress grew weary upon reaching the top and the mainsail had to be dropped and a boatswain’s chair hoisted to bring him down.

The incident sapped valuable time which contributed to Ticonderoga ’s seventh-place finish in Class A of the Performance Handicap Racing Fleet. But as soon as another sail was set, the 72-foot ketch began gaining on her rivals.

All day long the majestic sailboat roared through the fleet, passing boats that had started earlier, eliciting waves and compliments as she has throughout her 43 years at sea. Big Ti eased into port well before dawn Friday, turning in the third-fastest elapsed time among the 111 boats in the race.

“I haven’t been in Key West in over a year. I can’t think of a better way to go back than to arrive on Ticonderoga ,” said Buffett, a Mobile, Ala., native that most pop music fans associate with Key West. He had an apartment there during the struggling years of a career that has since blossomed magnificently.

Indeed, he couldn’t have picked more suitable means to a homecoming. Ticonderoga is considered the finest achievement of legendary yacht designer L. Francis Herreshoff. Though built for luxury ocean cruising, it has amassed a history of ocean racing excellence perhaps unparalleled.

During its competitive prime in the 1960s under then-owner Robert Johnson, Ticonderoga held more than 30 race records, many of which still stand. Its greatest moment came in the 1965 transpacific race to Hawaii when Big Ti averaged more than nine knots in breaking the record for the 2,225-mile race that had stood for 10 years.

Since current owner Ken MacKenzie bought Ticonderoga in 1971 it has been used primarily for charters in the Caribbean.

“It’s a sweet boat,” Buffett said after taking a turn at the helm during the afternoon as the fleet began the arc around the Florida Keys.

“It’s nice to go fast like this and be comfortable. That’s why Herreshoff was such a genius. He built such fast, comfortable boats, from dinghies to this size.”

It would be difficult to find a comparable ride to that aboard Ticonderoga . It rambles over the waves with an amazing smoothness and simplicity of motion that makes its speed deceiving. With conditions moderate throughout the race, the boat never seemed stressed in any way.

You can see the difference between sailing a small boat and sailing a boat like this,” said foredeck captain Pogo Evans as we passed another racer.

“They’re in rain slickers and we’re running around in shorts and T-shirts.”

Heading south and turning west toward his former home aboard such a majestic sailing vessel, Buffett was in his element. This is the nautical, tropical lifestyle the son of a son of a sailor made famous in song and spawned a legion of Parrothead followers.

“I really haven’t been sailing since August. Coming out today I realize how much I’ve missed it. And this is great. You don’t get these kinds of days too often,” he said.

Jimmy Buffett is not your typical rock star. Stepping aboard in Fort Lauderdale dressed in shorts, a well-worn yellow shirt, boat shoes and bandages on his heels, he blended into the crew like just another deck hand. Experienced and knowledgeable, he jumped into action whenever MacKenzie called for a sale change.

As Ticonderoga pressed on with all sails tuned, Buffett sipped a beer and contributed a tale about gobbling Big Macs for breakfast in exchange for sea yarns. But there were no songs; Buffett was battling a cold.

Basking in the success of his latest album, Volcano, and winding down from a recent tour, Buffett was looking forward to delivery of a new wooden 26-foot sloop patterned after Herreshoff’s last private yacht. He plans to cruise alone on it in the Exuma chain of the Bahama Islands next spring and work on another album.

“Out sailing like this is the only time I can get away by myself and relax. It’s the catalyst that makes me work,” he said.

But as the sun sets over the Florida Keys, Buffett has fallen in love with Herreshoff’s best-known boat, just like everyone else who’s ever sailed on it.

Buffett sold his 54-foot ketch Euphoria more than a year ago and is intrigued by the knowledge that Ticonderoga is for sale.

“It I ever thought about getting another big boat, both for the way she sails and the history behind her, Ticonderoga is the boat I’d like to someday own,” he said.

Just think of the stories this old vessel could tell. Must be enough to fill a career’s worth of albums.

 2018 update

As years passed, Jimmy Buffett was quoted often about his admiration for Ticonderoga . In his autobiography, “A Pirate Looks at Fifty,” he wrote that the Chart Room, the famous bar at the Pier House in Key West, was where “I almost bought Ticonderoga , the boat of my dreams, from Ken MacKenzie for an amazingly low price.”

Herreshoff’s masterpiece underwent a major rebuild in the late 1980s, and now 80, is still sailing and occasionally raced by current owner, Connecticut Senator L. Scott Frantz. According to published reports, Buffett was among the bidders before Ticonderoga was sold to Frantz in 1993.

During its peak years in the ’80s, the Fort Lauderdale to Key West Race had well over 100 boats making the 160-mile annual voyage. Part of its popularity had to do with the weekend-long bacchanal in Key West harbor that followed the race. Notable in the aftermath of the 1980 race was Buffett jumping on stage with the house band at the Pier House for an extended Saturday night closing set.

Participation in long-distance offshore racing has diminished, but the 42 nd Fort Lauderdale to Key West Race set sail on Jan. 10, 2018 with 31 boats listed on the entry list.

Sailing is still an integral part of the Key West scene, particularly the sunset cruises. Here are the top 10 Key West sailing and water cruises .

Sept. 2, 2023 update

Waking up to the news about Jimmy Buffett’s passing was a jolt. Grateful for the memory of sailing with him in the 1980 Fort Lauderdale to Key West Race on assignment to cover the event.

But two things undocumented stand out from that weekend in Key West. Notably, the sundown gathering in Mallory Square when a Boston Whaler passed by just offshore and the two occupants, wearing only cutoff shorts, turned to face the receding sun and mooned the crowd on the pier.

None of the tourists had any idea that one of them was Buffett. He had tipped off a few of us that he was going to have a salute to the sundown crowd. If only I’d taken that photo….

The other thing was being in the Pier House bar that Saturday night when Buffett jumped on stage and played a set with the house band. Just a priceless memory.

So, sail on, Jimmy. Hope you find that lost shaker of salt.

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AT AGE 63, STILL A GREAT KETCH

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Kate, princess of wales, says she has cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy.

Long and sleek, she stretches 72 feet from her gently curving bow to her graceful, rounded stern.

Her mainmast rises 86 feet, hewn from a 120-year-old Sitka spruce felled in British Columbia. Her mizzenmast is appropriately shorter, reaching 55 feet.

She is the Ticonderoga of Greenwich, a wooden sailboat that wealthy men have spent millions of dollars to possess and preserve. She is owned by L. Scott Frantz, a 39- year-old merchant banker from Greenwich who paid $875,000 for her in 1993.

Ticonderoga is as famous for the beauty of her creamy white hull, acccented by two gilded dolphins, as she is for her speed — another obsession of wealthy men.

Like them, she summers in Newport, R.I., and travels to the Caribbean to escape winter’s harshness. She spent this fall in a more workmanlike place — Westbrook — being repainted at Brewer Pilots Point Marina.

Her story offers a glimpse into the privileged and close-knit world of yachting during most of this century. Sixty-three years after she was launched, Ticonderoga remains one of the world’s most admired yachts, even as the number of luxury craft has grown.

During the past 15 years, as the world’s economy has flourished, the market for yachts that are 80 feet and longer has doubled every five years, said Jim Gilbert, editor of Showboats International magazine.

The market is fueled in large part by entrepreneurs from this country who are willing to pay $100 million or more for a 300-foot yacht, Gilbert said.

The boom in big sailboats is evident in the New York Yacht Club’s Transatlantic Challenge. Fifteen yachts, with an average length of 123 feet, made the crossing during the last race in 1997. The next race, to be held in 2002, is expected to attract 50 yachts, including several that are being built just for the event, Gilbert said.

The race began in 1905, in a booming era for yachting. But the federal income tax that went into effect eight years later cut into luxury buying and dampened interest in the super yachts, said Richard von Doenhoff, an officer with the New York Yacht Club.

“The world’s economy is so prosperous that people, despite the income tax, can afford these yachts again,” von Doenhoff said.

Ticonderoga, far from being the world’s most expensive yacht, was launched in 1936 in the midst of the Great Depression, when few people had the means to sail such an expensive boat.

Yet like the Empire State Building, another anomaly of that era that set a standard for the world, Ticonderoga has provided a lasting example of elegance and excellence in sailing yachts.

For insurance purposes, her early value was estimated at $30,000, according to Jack A. Somer’s book, “Ticonderoga, Tales of an Enchanted Yacht,” a primary source of information for this article. Her worth today is estimated at $1.5 million.

Conceived as a leisurely day sailer, Ticonderoga stunned the sailing community by winning more ocean- racing records than any other yacht, although the exertion nearly broke her.

“There’s been no vessel that has had a stellar record as she has had,” said Revell Carr, director of Mystic Seaport.

“She’s a sweetheart,” Gilbert said. “Everybody loves that boat.”

Ticonderoga was born in the imagination of L. Francis Herreshoff, a famous yacht designer from Bristol, R.I.

Christened Tioga, she was commissioned by Harry E. Noyes of Marblehead, Mass., who was born into a family that earned a fortune in the fledgling car sales business.

Herreshoff reached into the past when designing the genteel ketch that Noyes commissioned, borrowing elements from old-fashioned pilot boats that raced out of their harbors to meet incoming ships.

Still, her swiftness was a surprise.

“It wasn’t until they raced her that they realized she had great speed,” said Frantz, her current owner.

The yacht placed first in five races from 1936 to 1940. In 1942, Ticonderoga was donated to the U.S. Coast Guard for submarine patrol during World War II, as were many private yachts.

Two men born into wealth claimed her after the war: Allen Pinkerton Carlisle, who renamed her Ticonderoga, and John Hertz Jr., whose father founded the company that became Hertz Rent-A-Car.

But it wasn’t until a towering Oregonian lumberman named Bob Johnson laid his hands on her that she was transformed into a famous ocean racer. Under Johnson’s stewardship, the yacht affectionately called Ti became known as Big Ti to sailors around the world.

Johnson sailed Ticonderoga to her potential in the 1960s, tossing out amenities from her day sailing past such as radiators and a bathtub that added weight and slowed her down.

Johnson had chartered Ticonderoga for her winning sprint across the Pacific Ocean in the 1963 Los Angeles-to-Honolulu race. Shortly afterward, he purchased her for $50,000. In 1964, she won the Transpac race from Los Angeles to Tahiti and set a record that stood for 30 years.

But her record-setting win in the 1965 Los Angeles-to-Honolulu race against a yacht that was 26 years younger and 30,000 pounds lighter heightened her reputation and asserted her fate.

In 1965, the Transpac was called “The Race of the Century.”

With the 3-year-old South African yacht Stormvogel on Ticonderoga’s stern, Bob Johnson pushed his yacht to more than 20 knots, deliberately steering her into gale-force winds.

Frantz compares Ti’s speed in that race to riding a skateboard at 40 mph. “I can’t imagine it,” he said.

Ticonderoga won the race by sailing 2,225 miles in nine days and 13 hours while averaging just under 10 knots.

But she was a broken boat. With her rigging snapped and her sails in tatters, Johnson ordered costly repairs. He knew that Ticonderoga’s days as a great racer were over.

Today, after more than six decades at sea, Ticonderoga’s fame lies in her history. Unable to keep up with sleeker, modern boats, she is confined to competitions with other classic yachts.

The expectations of the people who sail her have changed as well.

“When the conditions are ours, we win. When they’re not, we don’t,” said Tom Reardon, Ti’s paid skipper since 1986. “That’s the way we like it. We don’t need to win every race.”

Except for her stint in the U.S. Navy, Ticonderoga has been under full sail. Her longevity has contributed to her fame.

“She’s always been very active; she never spent much time laid up anywhere,” Frantz said. “Except for when she was in the Navy, she always sailed.”

And she has been a part of many sailors’ lives.

“You run into people all over the world who have sailed on her,” he said.

Frantz hopes the yacht will continue to be a part of his wife’s and children’s lives for years to come. “We hope to keep her for the rest of our lives,” he said. “We want our kids to grow up on a boat and learn all about the responsibilities.”

Ticonderoga’s crew members have been as much a part of the yacht’s story as the men who have owned her.

It is a vagabond lifestyle, living on a sailboat the size of several long rooms and sleeping in a closet-sized cabin.

The vastness of life on the ocean is the reward.

“It’s great to be moving around as much as you do on a boat and seeing new places so often,” deckhand Johan Bouvin said.

Reardon knows the yacht intimately. While supervising her repairs this fall, he fretted over small areas of rot in the gilded eagle mounted on her stern.

“It’s unusual for a skipper to stay with a boat so long,” Reardon said. “But it’s getting more common as there are more boats.”

Deckhand Curtis Barton has been with Ticonderoga for 11 years. Barton, 35, of English Harbour, Antigua, admired the yacht for years as she wintered in the Caribbean.

“She’s like the Rolls Royce of the sea,” Barton said. “There are bigger boats and lots of faster boats, but there is no other sailboat in the world like her.”

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Ticonderoga 1936

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Clipper-Bowed 72' Ketch model original designed by Francis L. Herreshoff ( 1936 ).

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Launched in 1936 . Many consider Ticonderoga the crowning design achievement of L. Francis Herreshoff.

Francis Herreshoff designed the 72-foot ketch Ticonderoga to be a fast day boat for Harry Noyes and his family. But he designed her with the flowing lines below the water and breathtaking clipper-yacht aesthetics above.

Big Ti , as she was known, startled very one with her speed on all points of sail. Racing her soon took center stage. Many yachting connaisseurs consider her the most beautiful ocean racer ever built.

Since she was launched in 1936 as Tioga II, she was recorded more ocean-racing victories, especially first-overall honors, than any yacht in history. She has been refitted as a luxurious cruising boat, but her current owner frequently races. Along with Endeavour and Shamrock V , Ticonderoga is the most famous racing yacht still sailing today .

It is absolutely beautiful. The detail and finish are truly amazing.

Hi Cynthia, The Ticonderoga model arrived yesterday…….It is absolutely beautiful. The detail and finish are truly amazing. I will be a perfect addition to my collection from Abordage. Thank you and your craftsmen for another great ship model. Rod Peck

Thank you, it has been received, opened and looks beautiful!

Thank you, it has been received, opened and looks beautiful! Thanks for your help! Best, Beth

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Shelburne Museum: Steamboat Ticonderoga

The  steamboat   Ticonderoga  is one of two remaining  side-paddle-wheel  passenger steamers with a vertical beam engine of the type that provided freight and passenger service on America’s bays, lakes and rivers from the early 19th to the mid-20th centuries. Commissioned by the Champlain Transportation Company,  Ticonderoga  was built in 1906 at the Shelburne Shipyard in  Shelburne, Vermont  on  Lake Champlain . ( Wikipedia )

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TICONDEROGA OF GREENWICH

TICONDEROGA OF GREENWICH is a 25.91 m Sail Yacht, built in the United States of America by Quincy Adams and delivered in 1936.

Her power comes from a General Motors diesel engine. She can accommodate up to 4 guests, with 3 crew members waiting on their every need. She has a gross tonnage of 39.0 GT and a 4.91 m beam.

She was designed by Ralph E. Richmond .

The naval architecture was developed by L. Francis Herreshoff , who has architected 3 other superyachts in the BOAT Pro database, and the interior of the yacht was designed by John Munford , who has 40 other superyacht interiors designed in the BOAT Pro database - she is built with a Teak deck, a Mahogany and Oak hull, and Wood superstructure.

TICONDEROGA OF GREENWICH is one of 988 sailing yachts in the 24-30m size range.

Specifications

• Name: TICONDEROGA OF GREENWICH
• Previous Names: TIOGA,TICONDEROGA,TICONDEROGA OF NEWPORT
• Yacht Type: Sail Yacht
• Yacht Subtype: Classic Yacht
• Builder: Quincy Adams
• Naval Architect: L. Francis Herreshoff
• Exterior Designer: Ralph E. Richmond
• Interior Designer: John Munford
• Refits: 1968-01-01,1989-01-01

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Still sailing after all these years

Not only is Ticonderoga still sailing, but she’s regularly seen on the starting line of classic yacht races from Newport to Antigua, remaining one of the most winning, and certainly one of the best looking oceangoing sailboats ever launched.

Designed by the legendary L. Francis Herreshoff for the intrepid yachtsman Harry Noyes, the 72-foot, clipper-bowed ketch was originally dubbed Tioga of Marblehead. Her second owner bought the boat, but not the name, and while doodling with pencil emblazoned with the brand name Ticonderoga, he saw the answer that kept intact both the letters and the intent of her original name. Over the decades there’s been a series of owners, each with a story all their own — some wore her down, others bestowed lavished refits. L. Francis Herreshoff was the son of yacht designer Nat Herreshoff, often called “The Wizard of Bristol,” L. Francis, however, was an independent thinker. He demonstrated his independence by setting up shop in the design office of Burgess, Swasey & Paine, a gifted group of Boston naval architects, and arch competitors of his father.

Starling Burgess took the young Herreshoff under his wing and was certainly instrumental in his early career. The firm’s awareness of materials and structures as well as fair hull shapes helped L. Francis develop a keen eye for both grace and seaworthiness. Preceding Tioga of Marblehead, on Herreshoff’s drawing board was a ketch named Joann (eventually renamed Brigadoon), and the Tioga of Boston. Both boats were designed and built for Waldo Brown. It was Tioga of Boston that caught Harry Noyes’ attention, and before long he convinced Brown to sell him the ketch. After only one season he went directly to Herreshoff for a bigger, faster rendition of the 57-foot ketch, and an evolution in yacht design would yield revolutionary results.

Designed in a year, building began in 1936 at the Quincy Adams Yacht Yard in Massachusetts. Tioga of Marblehead was designed with performance in mind but rating rules had been ignored. Harry Noyes, a man of means, owned larger vessels for cruising purposes, and meter boats to satisfy his racing whims. Tioga was initially conceived as a family day sailer. As with all custom boat building projects, the art lay in the owner/client pas de deux, which, in this case, would prove to be more than a complex duet.

The building process was complicated by the fact that Noyes was both Herreshoff’s client, and the owner of the shipyard that would build the boat. Changes from the design, no matter how small, became major issues of contention — to the point where Herreshoff chose not to attend or was not invited to the launching. At one point, he was queried as to why there was such modest headroom and his response was quite straightforward. “The boat’s a day sailer, not a goddamned dance hall!”

The post-Depression era at the Quincy Adams Yacht Yard was a time when craftsmen were glad to have work, and they plied their skills as artisans rather than as assembly-line workers. Ti’s scantlings were lighter than the more crudely built vessels of the day, but her backbone was made of good Yankee white oak, and her planks of carefully chosen, bronze-fastened tropical mahogany. The Port Orford cedar decking would prove to be an inferior choice, and her new fangled hollow Sitka spruce spars would be too flexible. An extra layer of spruce would eventually be added at the Luders yacht yard in Stamford, Conn.

A big mistake was averted during the building process when the yard foreman insisted on keel bolts with nuts at both ends. Herreshoff’s design called for heavy lag bolts to be screwed into the antimony-treated lead. This procedure would soon fall out of favor due to the nasty habit of ballast keels pulling away from such a lag bolt attachment.

The day of the big event drew a crowd to the Quincy yard and just as the regal ketch began to slide down the tallow-slick ways, a gunshot-like crack signaled the collapse of the bracing. As Tioga of Marblehead began to exit the shed she rolled onto her side, hitting the water and unleashing 30,000 pounds of external lead and a force that brought the big ketch abruptly back onto her feet. Three crewmembers flew from one side of the foredeck to the other — whip-lashed by the boat’s substantial righting movement. The awe struck crowd were of two opinions — either this would be a very special boat, or bad omens were already at play.

As with most new boats, perfection may have been the target, but the mark did, in some ways, fall a little short. Most noticeable was the fact that Big Ti sat quite low on her lines, mostly due to what had been added during the building process, usually under designer protest. What started out as a large but simple day sailer, had shouldered the extra weight of a generator, bronze radiators and boiler-fired heating system, a large refrigerator and deep freeze, two showers, and a cast iron bathtub, along with large tanks for water and fuel.

Despite these few shortfalls, the big ketch proved herself more than a decent day sailer, and before long Noyes and a long list of subsequent owners were planning for the next ocean race she would enter — and more often than not, finish in-the-money. Line honors and course records began to stack up in 1936, and 30 years later, Ti was still at it — setting the record for the Los Angeles to Honolulu Race. In between, she carved tracks in the ocean between Tahiti and Copenhagen, not just arriving at those landfalls but setting course records for offshore races. Her long waterline and split rig made her a reaching machine and despite her low freeboard, a very seakindly sailboat.

Decades of being driven hard and put away wet takes a toll on any vessel, and Ti’s first crucial refit came after she took on a coat of gray paint and did her service in World War II. Years of patrol duty off the East Coast turned a fine yacht into a worn out work boat — and with her return to civilian life came the ongoing challenge of keeping an aging yacht fit for sea.

Perhaps Ti’s best patron was owner Bob Voit who shouldered a full restoration done at Southampton Yacht Services in England in 1988. The refit estimate was twice what he had paid for the vessel, and included 90 new frames and replanking from the waterline up. Below the waterline the planking had been done by Spencer’s yard in Florida some years before. The deck beams and decks were also to be replaced and a new Munford interior was painstakingly fitted. New systems were also added to the list, and the bottom line rolled in at over $900,000, a bargain in today’s rates.

Tom Reardon, Ti’s pro skipper for the last 21 years, points to a few key factors done during this refit that have really helped the boat to stand up to the test of time. The first was prompted by the industry’s wise avoidance of white lead, a product that worked well between layers of double-planked hulls, but not in the humans who handled the toxic substance. In lieu of the lead, the yard chose a new polyurethane sealant called 5200, manufactured by 3M. The crew slathered on this miracle whip, coating the space between the double-planked hull. Its rugged adhesive quality and its elasticity proved to be the perfect product for the job. Another wise decision was to build a one-inch thick Bruynzeel plywood sub-deck, and then glue rather than mechanically fasten one-inch teak on top. The rock solid results have kept the deck and hull from working, and today the boat is still going strong thanks to that 1988 restoration.

Just as Bob Voit proved to be a true benefactor and aid to Ticonderoga’s longevity, her current owner, Scott Frantz, also sees the big ketch as a floating national treasure. He has worked hard to keep this classic yacht thriving in her golden years. During his ownership he’s cruised Ti in the Mediterranean, raced her in the Caribbean and done Down East club cruises in New England. Swapping seasons between the tropics and New England, Ticonderoga is based out of Antigua in the winter and home-ported in Greenwich, Conn., during the summer.

Short-handed passagemaking has been facilitated by Ti’s split rig and fairly low aspect ratio sail plan. There are no furling headsails or in-spar reefing systems, simply conventional piston hanking jibs set on the foredeck under sail covers. Each is hanked to an individual stay and ready to be hoisted. The mainsail is more than 1,200 square feet, but Reardon points out that he can sail locally “with a crew of three and me,” and ups the team by two when making a passage to or from the Caribbean.

Ticonderoga is a living legend that’s still going strong, and her story is replete with the lure of the sea, the feel of a wooden hull and the tales of the characters who have kept her on course. 

By Ocean Navigator

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Steamboat Ticonderoga

Visitors’ first view of the steamboat Ticonderoga , rising up behind Shelburne Museum’s campus of historic buildings, is an unforgettable experience. The restored 220-foot steamboat is a National Historic Landmark and the last walking beam side-wheel passenger steamer in existence.

Built in Shelburne in 1906, the Ticonderoga (fondly known as the “ Ti ”) operated as a day boat on Lake Champlain, serving ports along the New York and Vermont shores until 1953. In 1955, it was moved two miles overland from the lake to Shelburne Museum in a remarkable engineering effort that stands as one of the great feats of maritime preservation.

Today, the Ticonderoga portrays life on board in 1923. The ship’s carved and varnished woodwork, gilded ceilings, staterooms, grand staircase, and dining room evoke the elegance of steamboat travel. Visitors can freely explore the Ticonderoga’s four decks, massive engine, pilot house, galley, and crew’s quarters; special guided tours are also offered daily during the regular season from mid-May through mid-October.

Find out more about the Ti by watching the film about its relocation, which is shown on board, and by picking up a copy of the book Ticonderoga: Lake Champlain Steamboat , which is available at the Museum Store.

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Ticonderoga : Lake Champlain Steamboat

Ticonderoga

Jahaziel’s First Steamboat: Ticonderoga

By the Collections team at Lake Champlain Maritime Museum

Preface: This is the fourth in a blog series about Vergennes resident and steamboat captain Jahaziel Sherman. This series is based on the Museum’s digital exhibit  Jahaziel Sherman of Vergennes, Steamboat Pioneer , which is free for all to explore online. We’ll be sharing more stories on Jahaziel and his work every other week; follow us on  Facebook  or  Instagram  for the next post.

For the first twenty years of his maritime career, Jahaziel lived in the Albany area. He had enjoyed captaining sloops on the Hudson River until the arrival of the newly invented steamboat in 1807. Attracted by the lucrative and novel steamship business, Jahaziel became a steamboat captain, and teamed up the with investors who were organizing the  Lake Champlain Steamboat Company. In 1813, Jahaziel, Nancy Winslow, and their children moved to Vergennes, where the Company established a shipyard on Otter Creek. Based on his prior experience building and captaining, Jahaziel became the company’s general manager and construction supervisor, and hired master carpenter John Lacy to begin work on his first steamboat, to be named Ticonderoga .

However the War of 1812 intervened. The incomplete hull of Jahaziel’s first steamboat was purchased by the U. S. Navy and finished by shipwrights Noah and Adam Brown as the armed sloop of war  Ticonderoga  for the Lake Champlain fleet commanded by Commodore Thomas Macdonough. American forces occupied the shipyard to construct the rest of the American naval fleet.

Seven miles downstream, the mouth of Otter Creek was fortified with defensive earthworks and seven 12-pound cannon ship carriages to protect the Vergennes shipyard from British invaders. This location would later be known as Fort Cassin, in honor of American Naval Lieutenant Stephen Cassin who led the defense of the site along with an assortment of artillerymen and militia troops.

The fortifications were prudent. On May 9, 1814, while Jahaziel’s Ticonderoga was still on the hard being completed as a sixteen-gun schooner, a British navy squadron (comprised of British Captain Daniel Pring’s brig Linnet, five sloops, and thirteen galleys) sailed onto the lake. After an attack on McNeil’s ferry at Charlotte, the British fired on Fort Cassin for an hour and a half, upending one of the guns and injuring two men. However, the battery’s defenders inflicted sufficient damage on the British galleys so that the attackers withdrew, and construction at Otter Creek continued without incident.

On May 26, Macdonough’s converted steamboat  Ticonderoga left the shipyard together with the 26-gun boat  Saratoga .  Over the summer, the remaining vessels of Macdonough’s fleet assembled on the lake, ready for the decisive encounter at Plattsburgh Bay in September.

The Battle of Plattsburgh on September 11, 1814 engaged the largest warships ever to sail on Lake Champlain, and Jahaziel’s converted steamer was right in the middle of the action (Learn more about this naval battle in our War of 1812 history overview ).

Late in the battle, British gunboats concentrated on  Ticonderoga . Lake Champlain historian Ralph Nading Hill recounts, “Walking her decks in a blizzard of shot, Lt. Cassin, her commander, ordered that her guns be loaded with canister and bags of musket balls. When Midshipman Hiram Paulding found he could not discharge the guns under his supervision because of faulty matches, he resourcefully touched them off by firing his pistol at them. Thus the  Ticonderoga  was able to hold her end of the line.” The battle ended in American victory.

The Battle of Plattsburgh was one of the final naval engagements of the War of 1812. The Treaty of Ghent was signed in December of 1814, and finalized on February 16, 1815, marking the end of the 200-year era of warfare on the lake. Both the United States and Canada emerged from the war with an increased sense of national identity. Peace returned to the Champlain Valley, and an era of growth and prosperity – and, happily for Jahaziel, economic development – began.

Jahaziel didn’t wait long to start construction of his next steamer. The Lake Champlain Steamboat Company was required by the New York Legislature to have an operational steamboat within 18 months of incorporation, so as the War of 1812 ended, Jahaziel hired shipwright Edward Roberts, who had worked with Noah and Adam Brown on the naval fleet, to begin construction of the steamboat Phoenix at the Otter Creek shipyard.

And what happened to the Ticonderoga ? At the end of the War of 1812, the U. S. Naval fleet was moved to Whitehall to await future need. Some of the vessels were purchased at auction to become commercial vessels in the renewed flow of trade, while those that were no longer seaworthy, including Ticonderoga, gradually sank to the bottom of the South Lake Champlain (commonly referred to as “South Lake”). Raised as a historic relic in 1959, Ticonderoga’s archaeological remains are on view at Whitehall, NY.

The Museum continues to study Jahaziel’s first steamboat. In 2018, we received a grant from the South Lake Champlain Fund to initiate digitization of collections related to the region’s history.  Ticonderoga , an important shipwreck from the South Lake, was one of the sites included in the study.

You can explore more of our South Lake Champlain Project research in the digital exhibit about Ell Rockwell, another steamboat captain on the lake who was active for several decades after Jahaziel’s time.

This blog series and digital exhibit are based on research by Kevin Crisman, George Schwartz, Caroline Kennedy, and museum staff members Eloise Beil, Patricia Reid, and Chris Sabick. This project was supported by a 2019 Collections Grant from the Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership.

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Ticonderoga 1936

Clipper-Bowed 72′ Ketch model original designed by Francis L. Herreshoff ( 1936 ).

Comes in green or red hull.

Description

Additional information.

Launched in 1936 . Many consider Ticonderoga the crowning design achievement of L. Francis Herreshoff.

Francis Herreshoff designed the 72-foot ketch Ticonderoga to be a fast day boat for Harry Noyes and his family. But he designed her with the flowing lines below the water and breathtaking clipper-yacht aesthetics above.

Big Ti , as she was known, startled very one with her speed on all points of sail. Racing her soon took center stage. Many yachting connaisseurs consider her the most beautiful ocean racer ever built.

Since she was launched in 1936 as Tioga II, she was recorded more ocean-racing victories, especially first-overall honors, than any yacht in history. She has been refitted as a luxurious cruising boat, but her current owner frequently races. Along with Endeavour and Shamrock V , Ticonderoga is the most famous racing yacht still sailing today .

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Fort Ti ferry ownership resolved

Apr 21, 2022 | News

SHOREHAM — Cornwall resident Jack Doyle has secured ownership of the historic Fort Ticonderoga Ferry and is targeting May 8 or 9 to return the ferry to service after a more than year-long hiatus.

Doyle on Monday said he’s hired around half the crew members he needs, with additional interviews to unfold during the coming week. He added customers will note ticket price increases that reflect inflation, increased wages and the recent surge in gasoline prices.

The ferry, which transports vehicles and people across Lake Champlain between Shoreham, Vt., and Ticonderoga, N.Y., remained inactive last year as a result of an ill-fated sale of the business by longtime owner Michael Matot to an entity known as “1759 Ltd.,” aka Neil Jensen of Clifton Park, N.Y. According to court documents, 1759 Ltd. finalized a deal to buy the business from Matot April 14, 2021, for $600,000. The assets included the tugboat, barge, cable, ferry equipment and two related, small pieces of non-contiguous land in Shoreham.

But 1759 Ltd. failed to meet its monthly payback schedule, arguing it was unable to do so because it wasn’t provided key mentorship to master the operation, according to court records.

Doyle came onto the scene late last fall offering to buy the note on the ferry and put the boat back into circulation for the 2022 season. Doyle is a 1978 Middlebury College graduate, a retired Wall Street investor and owner of Hibernia Farm in Cornwall.

Doyle entered into federal court-directed mediation sessions with 1759 Ltd. officials earlier this month that culminated in him officially acquiring the ferry, he reported on Monday.

The ferry consists of a tug and cable-driven barge that since 1759 has been transporting travelers across Lake Champlain between Ticonderoga, N.Y., and Larrabee’s Point in Shoreham. It’s a seasonal operation that generally runs from the beginning of May until the end of October, with seven-minute daytime crossings during “all but the most severe weather,” according to fortiferry.com.

Doyle said he’ll be implementing the first Fort Ti Ferry ticket increases in a decade. A round-trip ticket will cost $20, up from $18, though one-way service will remain at $12. And Doyle is introducing a new charge that he said is common among most other ferry services: A fee for passengers. So there will be the ticket price — which covers the vehicle and its driver — and an additional fee of $4 per adult passenger, $3 for seniors and $2 per child ages 6-12. Children younger than 6 will ride for free.

Doyle promised discounts for clergy, first responders, U.S. military personnel and local sports teams traveling back and forth across the lake. He promised 10% of his profits would go to support school programs in Shoreham and Ticonderoga.

“The business model is fairly simple,” Doyle said. “I think it will work, and we’ll see.”

Reporter John Flowers is at [email protected] .

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Ticonderoga | Lake Champlain’s Steamboat

Learn more about the steamboat Ticonderoga, a popular attraction at the Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, Vermont. Launched in 1906, the Ticonderoga (or the Ti, for those who knew it well) was a state-of-the-art side-wheel steamer that transported passengers, freight, and cars—even an elephant once—on Lake Champlain, cruising at 23 miles per hour; only trains could […]

By Debbie Despres

Jun 24 2014

The Ticonderoga

Learn more about the steamboat Ticonderoga, a popular attraction at the Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, Vermont.

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TICONDEROGA yacht NOT for charter*

25.9m  /  85' | quincy adams yacht yard | 1936 / 1989.

• Amenities & Toys

The 25.9m/85' classic yacht 'Ticonderoga' was built by Quincy Adams Yacht Yard at their Quincy, Massachusetts shipyard. She was last refitted in 1989.

Guest Accommodation

She is also capable of carrying up to 3 crew onboard to ensure a relaxed luxury yacht experience.

Range & Performance

Ticonderoga is built with a wood hull and wood superstructure, with teak decks.

*Charter Ticonderoga Sail Yacht

Sail yacht Ticonderoga is currently not believed to be available for private Charter. To view similar yachts for charter , or contact your Yacht Charter Broker for information about renting a luxury charter yacht.

Ticonderoga Yacht Owner, Captain or marketing company

'Yacht Charter Fleet' is a free information service, if your yacht is available for charter please contact us with details and photos and we will update our records.

Ticonderoga Photos

NOTE to U.S. Customs & Border Protection

SIMILAR LUXURY YACHTS FOR CHARTER

Here are a selection of superyachts which are similar to Ticonderoga yacht which are believed to be available for charter. To view all similar luxury charter yachts click on the button below.

27m | Claasen Shipyards

from $41,000 p/week ♦︎

26m | Ring-Andersen

from $31,000 p/week ♦︎

Tempus Fugit

27m | Arkin Pruva Argos Yachts

from $33,000 p/week ♦︎

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