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Little Gull design is a simple sloop rig, with a jib.Fifty Wooden Boats (Woodenboat Publications)

Winthrop Warner gave his Little Gull design a simple sloop rig, with a jib that can easily be fitted with a boom to make it self-tending. Her small cabin accommodates two for cruising.

Forty years have passed since I wrote about the Little Gull design for WoodenBoat’s first design catalog, Fifty Wooden Boats, but the words are as valid now as they were back then, in 1996: “So well proportioned is this salty little cruiser that she looks like a boat half again larger than her 20′3″ hull length. And so wholesome is her design that she should be able to face up to about any sea or wind one is apt to find; with competent handling, she’d even do well in offshore sailing. An outside ballast keel of cast lead makes her self-righting, and a small-volume, self-bailing cockpit keeps her from taking on much water in the unlikely event of a knockdown.”

Particulars:

  • LOA:  20′3″
  • LWL:   17′2″
  • Beam:   6′10″
  • Draft:  4′
  • Displacement:  about 6,500 lbs
  • Sail area:  244 sq ft
  • Designer:  Winthrop L. Warner
  • Builder:  Melvin McNab, Roatan Island, Honduras, 1946

Since arriving in Midcoast Maine, this particular boat has passed through several owners, each with good intentions that ultimately fell through. She’s currently sitting outside, uncovered; although she’s weathered, her bones are unusually good. I found no serious rot and no rusting fastenings—only good old bronze ones. Bronze was also used for her cast chocks, cleats, and the rest of her hardware. Her ballast keel is cast lead.

The hull has survived in good condition.Maynard Bray

With bronze fastenings and a cast-lead ballast keel, the hull has survived in good condition, with largely cosmetic issues.

I’ve not heard of her builder, Melvin McNab, but he sure knew what he was doing and put her together marvelously well. She’s such a cutie and of such a doable size that her restoration would result in a wonderful boat for anyone with reasonable skill who is looking for a worthwhile project. Her interior has beds for an inboard engine but has been pretty much stripped clear; there’s no mast (a tree fell on it), but its hardware was salvaged; and there are sails and rigging. A complete set of drawings—11 sheets of them, beautifully detailed as was designer Winthrop Warner’s custom—comes with the boat, which is free to the first person who demonstrates sufficient commitment to carry her to completion.

VICTORIA’s comparatively open interior.Maynard Bray

With her “good bones,” VICTORIA’s comparatively open interior invites an interior refit, either to the original plans, which come with the boat, or a suitable new layout.

It seems tragic to let boats like this just waste away. It’s time this poor thing was adopted and given a decent upgrade and put back into commission. “She’d be as handy to use as she is safe,” I wrote back in 1996. “Her rig has but two sails: the mainsail, like most, needs no sheet-tending when tacking, and her working jib, although shown loose-footed with two separate sheets can be (and has been on at least one boat of this design) fitted with a boom of its own, which will allow it to tack like the mainsail without sheet tending. The short bowsprit is a great place from which to rig the anchor, keeping the foredeck clear and clean.”  Article ends.

Maynard Bray is WoodenBoat’s technical editor.

VICTORIA is located at Kalliste Yacht Service in Lincolnville, Maine. For information, contact owner Shane Laprade, info@mainevarnish.com or 207–505–0057.