Beetle Cat Sailboat - Edgewood Yacht Club - Rhode Island

Growing up sailing was always part of my life. This did not happen by chance, but rather was the result of generations before me had made sailing and sailboat racing part of normal activities. I was never told I had to go sailing, it was just part of my families routine that was passed down. It was an important part of my foundation.

My dad came from a family of eight kids growing up in Edgewood, Rhode Island. My grandfather was addicted to sailing like someone might be about golf. He would pack the supplies and gather all the children to head for Edgewood Yacht Club. It is here where his boat was moored. It was a large cat boat that was ideal for lots of people. All my dad’s siblings and often some of my grandparents friends would join them for an afternoon sail around Narragansett Bay.

Grandfather Wendell S. Brown in his catboat with family and friends 1936

In 1938 there was a severe hurricane that hit Rhode Island that destroyed dozens and dozens of boats. My dad was 15 years of age at the time. After the hurricane, my dad and his brother walked the beaches and discovered the remains of eight different small catboats that were very common on Narragansett Bay. They decided to collect the remains of the eight boats and put them together to create one good one. They named the boat ”Pieces of Eight”.

My dad John Brown & his brother Charles Brown building “***Pieces of Eight”.***

They raced Pieces of Eight and were quite successful. However, the far more interesting story is after they grew up and went off to college, their two younger sisters raced Pieces of Eight. It was very rare at that time for girls to participate in sailboat racing. My grandfather not only welcomed the fact they wanted to race, but encouraged it.

Genevieve & Marjorie Brown Winners of First Race of American Junior Championship for Beetle Cat Boats Sept 8, 1946

Pieces of Eight - Genevieve & Marjorie Brown

Nine years after my aunts won the race, I was born. Like my grandfather, my dad wanted to carry on with the family tradition of making sailing and sailboat racing part of my families life. I was most fortunate to spend most of my summers cruising out of Marblehead, Ma. down to Cape Cod and the islands. We would meet up with my grandfather and my uncles on their boats. Those were wonderful experiences of learning to respect Mother Nature, navigate, and boat handling skills. As I got older, my dad thought it was a good idea for me to learn to race. This made sailing a new experience. Over the years, I had the pleasure of racing competitively in a variety of types of sailboats…Blue Jays, Rhodes 19, Shields, Day Sailors, 470’s, Etchells, Sonars, J24, and C&C 41. For several years even did winter frostbite racing at the Courageous Sailing Center in Charlestown, MA

Having sailed and raced in Marblehead, MA. since the early 1960’s, I have had the luxury of being involved in the wonderful lifetime sport. So many sports today that kids participate in they will never play again. The hours they spend on the football field or lacrosse field perfecting their skills will no longer play a role in their lives. Sailing and sailboat racing can be a part of their entire lives. It makes me sad to see the low levels of participation in the Marblehead Community as compared to the years when I was growing up. Today kids have so many options, it is difficult for sailing to compete.

As my father got older he moved to South Carolina where it got him out of the cold winters. He stilled enjoyed his sailing, but always spoke highly of his adventures sailing and racing in New England. During one of his visits back to Marblehead, I took him to Newport, Rhode Island. I discovered a wooden boat building school. At the school the students actually built Beetle Boats. He was thrilled to see a school that was teaching the craft of wooden boat building. This was even more special because of the Beetle Cat.

When my dad got into his 80’s I ran out of things to buy him for his birthday. Then I found a company that built small wooden boat models to scale. I placed my order for a Beetle Cat model and gave it to him for his birthday. The very top photograph is the exact model I bought for him. Upon his death, the only item that really had any meaning to me to be passed on was the Beetle Cat model.