Led by Lake George’s JohnKelly and Reuben Smith of Hall’sBoat Corp., the Mystic Seaportmaritime museum in Mystic,Connecticut, is documenting aonce-famous class of sail boat thathas slipped into obscurity.

The boats, Sound Interclubs,were sailed on Lake George from

the 1930s through the 1950s, whenthe Lake George Club replaced itsracing fleet with Stars andRainbows.

Two of the surviving sail boatshave been acquired by John Kelly,the Assembly Point resident whose1936 Lake George Gar Wood wasrestored by Reuben Smith and thecrew at Hall’s earlier this year.Hall’s is now restoring Kelly’sSound Interclubs.

Of Kelly’s two boats, one was inrelatively good condition, but eventhat one had been disfigured by theforce of the 42 foot mast and theweight of the lead keel, said Smith.

So before he could begin thework of restoring the boats, Smithneeded an accurate set of plans.

Smith said he called MysticSeaport in search of plans, photosand any additional information thatmight be in the museum’s extensivearchives, and while dozens of clas-sic photos had been taken of theboats racing in Long Island Soundin the 1920s and 30s, no plans sur-vived.

That inquiry led MysticSeaport’s staff to start researchingthe Sound Interclub, said LouisaWatrous, the museum’s IntellectualProperty Manager.

“Mystic Seaport is delighted thatReuben Smith and John Kelly aredoing this work, because the muse-um maintains a representative col-lection of American sailboats, andthere’s too little information aboutthe Sound Interclubs,” saidWatrous. “The Museum doesn’thave a boat of this type in the col-lection, and the restoration at Hall’soffers us an opportunity to clarifyand update the photographic andvessel records.”

In the absence of the designer’soriginal plans (believed to havebeen lost in a fire), Smith is draft-ing a new set of plans as he restoresKelly’s first Sound Interclub; hisplans, notes and photos of therestoration will guide the restora-tion of the other four SoundInterclubs.

Mystic Seaport will be one ofthe beneficiaries of Smith’s work,says Louisa Watrous,

Watrous, however, is not merelycollecting the information gatheredby Smith and Kelly; she’s heavilyinvolved in co-ordinating research

on the boats, enlisting the aid ofpeople like Rik Alexanderson,whose grandfather, E.F.Alexanderson, was among thosewho brought one-design racing toLake George.

Alexanderson is conducting oralinterviews about the boats’ historyon Lake George, said Watrous.

Others, like David Warren, havecontributed photos of the boatsbeing sailed on Lake George.

“I tend to feel that stories pre-serve themselves; they’re waiting tobe told and will be told when thetime is right,” said Watrous.

The oral histories and photos arenot only valuable additions toMystic Seaport’s archives, but canassist Reuben Smith and John Kellyin their work, said Watrous.

For Watrous, researching theSound Interclubs is not merely aprofessional obligation; it’s a wayfor her to rediscover her links to thelake.

“I have personal ties to the lakethrough my family, and I evensailed on Sound Interclubs in the1970s,” said Watrous. “After theLake George Club switched to rac-ing Stars and Rainbows, two SoundInterclubs were sold to CanoeIsland Lodge, where I worked as acollege student in the 1970s.”

John Kelly says he hopes to takehis first sail in his Sound Interclubsometime this fall.

“I became interested in the boatswhen I was researching the historyof my Gar Wood, which was owned

August 20, 2010 The Lake George Mirror Fi ve

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The Return of the Sound InterclubA retired Lake George sailboat is making a comeback, and Mystic Seaport is following its progress

By Anthony F. Hall

Above: Sound Interclubs on Long Island Sound by Morris Rosenfeld.Below: Sound Interclubs on Lake George. Mirror file photo.

See INTERCLUBS Page 10

Dr. Ken Wagner, commonlyacknowledged as one of thenation’s foremost experts on freshwater lakes, will be the keynotespeaker at the Lake GeorgeAssociation’s 125th annual meet-ing, to be held August 20 at theLake George Club.

Wagner is best known on LakeGeorge as a consultant to the Lake

George Park Commission whohelped develop a pilot program totest the effectiveness of an herbi-cide in eradicating milfoil. Afterseveral public hearings in 2001, theAdirondack Park Agency deniedthe Commission a permit to test theherbicide. Wagner also advised theCommission during the drafting ofthe proposed stream corridor regu-lations.

“For decades, Ken has played avaluable role in environmental

research conducted on LakeGeorge, working with the LakeGeorge Association and other lakeorganizations,” said Walt Lender,the executive director of the LakeGeorge Association.

He holds a B.A. in environmen-tal biology from Dartmouth Collegeand M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in nat-ural resource management fromCornell University. He was former-ly employed by the New JerseyDepartment of Environmental

Protection. At the meeting, which will begin

at 10 am, Lake George Associationstaff will discuss emerging lake-wide issues and provide statusreports on current initiatives.

Executive Director Walt Lenderwill discuss the West BrookConservation Initiative, which willprotect Lake George’s south basinfrom sediments and pollutants.

Randy Rath, LGA project man-ager, will provide summaries on the

LGA’s other lake saving projects,such as those at English Brook,Hague and Finkle Brook deltas,Indian Brook, and the town ofPutnam.

Emily DeBolt will speak on theLGA’s educational and outreachinitiatives, as well as New YorkState’s new phosphorus law, andthe status of wall lettuce, a newinvasive species growing in thewatershed.

Members will be asked to voteon nominees for seats on the organ-ization’’s board of directors.Nominees are Tom Jarrett, SalimAmersi, Holly de Buys, BillDutcher and John Schaninger.

For information about the meet-ing, call the LGA at 668-3558.

Ten T he Lake George Mirror A ugust 20, 2010

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by a Lake George summer resident,Dan Winchester. A member of hisfamily showed me an album thatincluded some photos of a sailboatI’d never seen before. I showedthem to Reuben, who immediatelyidentified them as SoundInterclubs,” said Kelly.

Designed by Charles Mower in1926, the boats were famous in the1930s as the fastest boats in theWestchester and Connecticut watersof Long Island Sound.

“The whole idea behind one-design racing is that it’s a test ofskills; it has nothing to do with whohas the most money or the best tech-nology,” said Reuben Smith.

By 1935, however, the boatsbegan to feel dated to the LongIsland skippers, many of whomwere America’s Cup yachtsmen,and they replaced the boats withInternational One Designs, saidMichael Kelly, brother of JohnKelly.

Once the boats were no longerused for racing in Long IslandSound, they were brought to LakeGeorge.

Reuben Smith says he knows ofat least three other Sound Interclubs:one on Lake George, another inTexas and one on City Island inNew York. He hopes they’ll bebrought to Hall’s or to another LakeGeorge boat shop and restored.

As does John Kelly. At the veryleast, he’ll get some competition.What’s the fun of owning a fast sailboat if there’s no one to competewith?

INTERCLUBSfrom page 5

Lake George Association Meeting to be Held Friday, August 20By Mirror Staff