Gary Mull talk at Strictly Sail

[Black Jack]

Thanks to Bruce Sinclair of Vallejo - there was a nice small gathering with some special folks who knew, worked, sailed with, respected and truly admired Gary Mull. A few Mull desgned boat boat owners showed up with a half dozen sailing thier boats in. Jim Antrim (boat designer) and Hank Easom local legend and boat builder shared some great stories. Really super event despite the rains. You all would have loved it.

I understand there will a gathering again Saturday night at the Vallejo yacht club for the Great Vajello Race held at the end of the month. Many of Gary's friends will be there and a keg of beer keg (free beer) been ordered. The event is to be held on the docks by the Mull boats near the dinghy docks.

Here is Pretty Penny, Mull 30 (Easom built) at strictly sail. She was sailed in by Bruce for the Gary Mull seminar. She and many hopefully other mull boats will be there.

 

[Gamayun]

I truly regretted missing this. My Freedom 38 is a Mull design, but is on the hard for the first time since I bought her in San Diego three years ago. The builder was Tillotson-Pearson (TPI) in Rhode Island so I was a little surprised to hear that Mull was from this area with a lot of great boats to his credit. The more I learn about him and his boats, the more impressed I've been. Wish I could have heard the personal stories, too.

 

[BobJ]

PRETTY PENNY is for sale BTW - you can never have too many boats. So is Bruce's Swan 36 (not the old S&S boat but the much newer and rare Frers design) - I want that one. He also has a Whitehall that's to die for. Bruce has cool boats.

Edit: I was way off - not a Whitehall but an Ian Oughtred dinghy:

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[Philpott]

PRETTY PENNY is for sale BTW - you can never have too many boats.

View attachment 1460

aawwww. so pretty indeed! I suppose I could cut down the Japanese maple to make room ...

 

[Black Jack]

That Oughtred is fine.


What was most interesting about Mull was his ability to take the the numerous authoritive sources, theories and rules of thumb of boat design and reverse engineer them into the modern understanding the world uses today. It took both a strong English major and a superb engineer to make that happen. what was more remarkable was his ability to talk a client into a untried boat design and create some of the most beautiful sailing machines as well as hideous pinched racing barrels of the 70s and 80s. We miss guys like him and his old friends like Tom Blackaller and the rest of the gang. They made sailing wickedly fun, super competitive and larger than life.