My soul stirs when I see a Cal 40.
A FRP boat that set the stage for going fast.
"The first of the ultra-light, production ocean racers, the Cal 40 was inspired by ocean racing legend, George Griffith, of the Los Angeles Yacht Club, and was purportedly first sketched by him in 1962 on the back of a cocktail napkin. Following Griffith's inspiration, the Cal 40 was designed by the prolific and ground-breaking naval architect, C. William "Bill" Lapworth and was lofted by Willis Boyd. A major undertaking for its time and radically different from other production racing sailboats with its fin keel separated from a spade rudder mounted well aft, the Cal 40 continues to rack up an impressive string of ocean racing victories more than four decades after its initial launch, winning major competitions such as the Newport-Bermuda Race as recently as 2008. Among other ocean racing classics, Cal 40s still compete as a class in the Transpac from Los Angeles to Honolulu and in 2005 recorded 14 entries, more than any other production sailboat at any time in the century-long history of this, America's longest-running ocean yacht race." from Cal40.com with excerpts from “The Great American Yacht Designers”, Bill Robinson
I followed the rescue and restoration of Sequoia by Berkeley Marina. It was a real feat. I am sure it was a labor of love by Frank Cook, owner. Restoration started in 2015 when Frank received a "free boat" and culminated in 2017 racing her in the TransPac. The story goes that they flipped the boat upside down to correct damage and restore her to her original lines. I was fortunate to visit the marina in 2016 and got to see her in that upside down cradle. Even visited with Cree (the marina owner) who gave me a tour of the inverted hull and shared with me the work his team was doing to give this boat a new life.
See the restoration process at this link.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvD5qlROxJu3r8aIu4JitzFHsqu1pxDAO