Welcome to my new blog for the Lightning Class site. I have asked you come over to the test site while we work out bugs in the new site. We will over the next months follow the history of the Lightning and the ILCA in roughly chronological order. It will be comments on a mix of photos, videos, clippings from our Class materials and periodicals. I will use a little music from the period under discussion to take you back in time. Occasionally I will toss in something interesting that crosses my desk. For tradition I will be keeping Mary Huntsman's original column title at the masthead.
Lets go back to 1938 with this tune below. It was the number two song on the 1938 hit parade. The song was the Andrews Sisters breakthrough song done for a 1938 movie. When the Lightning was being developed in the Skaneateles Boat Company shop in 1938 this would have be playing on the radio...
The idea of the Lightning was born in conversation at the Skaneateles County Club in 1938. Lead by Comet sailors Linzey Nickolson and Gordon Cronk the parameters were set for 20'ish sloop for racing and daysailing. Two members of the group, boatbuilders John and George Barnes, recommended 19 feet for best use of standard 20 pieces of lumber. John Barnes would suggest they use a the hottest new design team to draw the boat. That would be the new firm of Sparkman & Stevens in NYC. A deal was struck with S&S do the boat and sell enough sets of plans to satisfy the fee. Then they would sign rights to the design over to a new class association. And the name? Why not the fast old clipper ship Lightning.
Here are the young gentlemen that gave us out boat. Over the next months lets get to know them better.
To view this as it should appear click the 2017 archive to the right and start with the first entry. Keep clicking up and it will keep reloading, appearing as it would in order.
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