Red Jacket: Yachting's Racing Legend

How the Red Jacket Legend Was Born

The story begins in 1965. According to the generally accepted and now semi-mythical story, yachtsman Perry Connolly went to a Toronto Maple Leafs hockey game with his friend George Cuthbertson. 

Source: brukmannyachts.com

George was no ordinary man – he and his namesake, George Cassian, owned a fledgling design firm, Cuthbertson & Cassian. During the match, Perry asked Cuthbertson to design him “the meanest, most hungry 40-footer ever.”

No one knows whether such a phrase really took place, and it is unknown whether the request to build a boat was made at a hockey match. However, one thing can be said with certainty - the construction of the boat began. Cuthbertson & Cassian decided to move away from the canons of yacht building at that time in order to build a really fast boat. 

Technical features of Red Jacket

Red Jacket differed from other yachts of the time in the shape of the bottom, keel and rudder. While in the 1960s it was common to have a solid keel with a rudder attached to the end, Cuthbertson & Cassian decisively rejected this idea. The designers shortened the keel and made the rudder similar to modern yachts - separated from the keel. At that time, this shape of the rudder blade was called a "blade rudder".

Source: brukmannyachts.com

The shape of the hull and bottom also underwent changes. Now, if you look at the hull full-face, the frame looked more pointed, almost V-shaped. This made the yacht more maneuverable. However, not only the shape of the hull, because maneuverability and performance directly depend on the mass of this hull. 

In the 1960s, the usual materials for building boats were still wood, aluminum, steel, and other metals. However, this combination of materials was unnecessarily heavy, and you can’t win a regatta on a heavy yacht. That’s when Erich Bruckmann, the engineer who helped create the Red Jacket, suggested using an innovative material for building the hull. As you might have guessed, that material was fiberglass.

Unique photos taken during the hull molding stage. Source: brukmannyachts.com

And not just any fiberglass, but fiberglass with a balsa core... That is, practically a modern sandwich construction! As a result of such technical refinements, Red Jacket became one of the first yachts in the modern sense of the word: lightweight materials, a strong and durable hull, the rudder blade we are accustomed to. 

Difficulties with perception

At that time, Red Jacket caused skepticism among yachtsmen: "How can you control it? It's plastic! Where is the soul of the boat? Light as a feather, what is it capable of?" However, all doubts and questions were dispelled when Red Jacket first went out on the race track. But first things first.

Launching Red Jacket. Source: brukmannyachts.com

Among the rather funny comments about the use of fiberglass, from today's point of view, there were also quite justified complaints about the design. For example, in the bow of the boat there was nothing but a huge box for storing sails. Yes, almost half of the free space of the hull was occupied by sails. Sleeping places were in the salon, and only for yachtsmen who were not currently on watch or steering the boat. There was no need to even mention a comfortable cruise.

Source: brukmannyachts.com

However, Red Jacket was not created for leisurely travel along the Canadian coast. In its very first season on Lake Ontario, the boat, skippered by Polly Connolly, smashed the competition to smithereens. In total, during its first season, Red Jacket won 11 of 13 races, including the Freeman Cup and Lake Ontario International. In the 1967 SORC race from St. Petersburg to Broom, Florida, Red Jacket finished first. It was this victory that attracted the attention of a wide range of yachtsmen. 

The Red Jacket's winning run and the model's growing popularity forced the design company to expand - Cuthbertson & Cassian merged with Bruckmann Manufacturing, Hinterhoeller Yachts and Belleville Marine to form the legendary C&C Yachts shipyard.

What's next?

And then, over the years, Red Jacket took part in races regularly taking prize places. In 2021, the last owner of the boat, Peter Milligan, passed away. According to his will, the boat was given to the Great Lakes Maritime Museum in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. It would seem that the museum would get its hands on a perfectly preserved artifact on the move, but the situation turned out to be a little more complicated.

The administration of the Maritime Museum decided that buying a 106-meter steamship would be much more profitable than maintaining a small sailboat. Red Jacket clearly did not fit into the Museum's long-term plans, so the boat was put up for sale. For a long time, no buyer could be found - rumors began to spread that Red Jacket would be scrapped.

When these rumors reached two friends, Brian Post and John Salasny, they immediately contacted a broker and made a deal to buy the boat in just an hour. The two friends immediately set to work restoring the boat. However, to the surprise of Post and Salasny, the yacht was in much better condition than anyone expected.

“We had to update some of the wiring, the fuel line, and the filter, but other than that, Red Jacket was in really good shape,” says Salasny. Post adds, “We plan to do some regattas throughout 2024. But really, we just want to preserve the boat and show it off to people.”

Red Jacket in 2014

Red Jacket is currently located at the Prince Edward Yacht Club in Picton, Ontario, and periodically welcomes guests who want to see the regatta legend in person.

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19.09.2024