Thunderbirds swoop in to Gig Harbor
Even though I live in a great sailing town, I know surprisingly little about sailing. By “surprisingly little,” I guess I mean nothing. That’s what friends are for. This weekend Gig Harbor is celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Thunderbird sailboats. Nothing about that got me excited until I spoke with my friend and fellow Keller Williams Realtor Gerry Dryer. Gerry built his Thunderbird starting in 1962. After an amazing story, he still has it and sails it.
I don’t want to give too much misinformation, so I’ll recite the little bit I learned from Gerry and then hopefully some of you who know better can fill us in in the comments section. Thunderbirds are great little homemade sailboats. The Dryers bought the plans for theirs for $2! Apparently the plywood that was sent to build the boat was 28′ long and had to be delivered on a special truck.
This weekend you’ll notice that a temporary dock has been set up in the Gig Harbor marina for the hundreds of Thunderbirds that have gathered for the 50th Anniversary party. It’s well worth making your way downtown and taking a look. Please, if you have more information on the Thunderbirds and what makes them so special, comment here and share your knowledge with us! You can email me some photos as well if you’ve got some good ones you’d like to share.
August 5th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
Matt,
I’ve had the pleasure of sailing on two very early editions of this boat. My brother kept his in Bellingham while living in Sedro Wooley and the father of a girlfriend I had back when I was sixteen used to consistantly win the DesMoines Yacht Club regatta. He later converted it into a fishing boat that he would take up to Alaska! Last I knew, he converted it back to it’s true racing form.
Great blog!
August 7th, 2008 at 2:36 pm
Thanks Rob! Pretty fun history in these boats. I knew nothing about them until this weekend.
August 15th, 2008 at 7:08 am
Here’s an email I received from a Thunderbird fan:
Thanks for your email. I am glad that you enjoyed the Thunderbird sailboat 50th anniversary festival in Gig Harbor! Here are some links below that your bloggers may be interested in to learn about these wonderful boats! Come out and watch them in Thursday harbor races for August, tonight at 6:30PM in Gig Harbor and you will likely see 3 or 4 of them that usually participate! Races are sponsored by GHYC and open to all sailors so bring your boat if you have one and join the race. Finishes and starts are off the docks in Arabella’s marina. Public viewing from Jerisch Park docks.
http://www.tbird50years.com/
http://www.tbird50years.com/Thunderbird.html
http://www.gateline.com/104/story/1991.html
http://www.thenewstribune.com/adventure/outdoors/story/429404.html
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbird_26
Interesting link, there is one for sale @ $6,500 on Craigslist
seattle.craigslist.org/see/boa/786613973.html