Birds

The Bird Boats

By Jane Hook

"To 'sail the birds' is a proclamation of wily character and skill, a merit badge demonstrative of the full knowledge of sail handling and mastery of the Bay's oblique currents and waves. Designed seventy five years ago, the class survives intact and active on the Bay as the West Coast's oldest one design fleet."

Looking out over a windswept San Francisco Bay , frothing with white caps one might chance to see a class of boats battling it out, competing only against each other on a virtually empty bay. "Look! It's the Birds." Be it this weekend, or seventy years ago, this class brings smiles and a colorful history to its home on the Bay. A distinctive short-masted flush deck sloop with large mainsail and tiny club-footed jib, a Bird cuts through the Bay's chop without hesitation, albeit at the expense of the crews' dry clothing. To "sail the birds" is a proclamation of wily character and skill, a merit badge demonstrative of the full knowledge of sail handling and mastery of the Bay's oblique currents and waves. Designed seventy five years ago, the class survives intact and active on the Bay as the West Coast's oldest one-design fleet.

Conceived to be an interclub racing class sponsored by members of the Pacific Interclub Yachting Association, local shipwright J. Herbert Madden Sr., P.I.Y.A. Representative Clifford A. Smith, and Sausalito Naval Architect Fred Brewer drew up a rough sketch of the proposed sloop for members of the San Francisco Yacht Club. The drawing was then sent to well known boat designer John Alden for review and drafting. The San Francisco contingent accepted his suggestion for increased ballast but declined other modifications. They also decreased the height of the mast, the number of chain plates, and keel weight and increased plank thickness. John Alden design Number 157 was drafted up by associate Sam Crocker on September 1,1921 and became the basis for the Bird Class, which still exists today.

The First Birds

The first boats were built by Madden & Lewis in Sausalito. Sponsored by an interclub raffle, hull Number 1, Osprey, was completed and three others partially finished with the funds. With a building cost of only $1,800, the class grew in popularity. Plans were again redrawn and modified, increasing the water-line and altering the rigging and sail plans at the request of the San Francisco Bay Bird Boat Association. These drawings, dated April 7, 1928, are still in use by the class.

In the mid '20s, Madden & Lewis, Nunes Brothers, Lester Stone and United Shipyards were all fabricating Birds. As the economy slid into the depression, Lester Stone built two birds, Robin and Polly, on speculation, painting them red and green to match their names. What made this 30-foot boat so popular? It was affordable, relatively easy to maintain and exceptionally fast and maneuverable. Class regulations limit total crew to five, but the vessels can be handily sailed by two. Once the sails are hoisted, a Bird is mostly self-tending with the exception of sail trim, running back stays, and spinnaker gear.

The vessel presents an unmistakable silhouette. A proportionately short mast and long, low-slung boom carry a large main sail with no reef points. The boom overhangs the transom, placing the center of effort far aft and low to the boat, aiding the tiny jib in balancing the huge main. The canvas is also counterbalanced underwater by the 5 foot 8 inch draft on the equivalently heavy lead keel. Total displacement is some 9,000 pounds, of which approximately 3,800 pounds are in the keel and internal ballast. The modest beam, sharp bow profile and high displacement to ballast ratio permits the Birds to beat into the worst conditions the Bay has to offer, referred to as "bird boat weather" by local salts.

The longevity of the class is partially attributed to their sturdy construction of cedar planks over steam bent oak frames. Areas around the large cockpit are substantially braced with full-width deck beams and metal strapping. Current owners have been installing systems to spread the load of the mast between the chain plates and keel.

An important consideration for the longevity of the hulls has been proper maintenance and protracted sailing. The movement through the green seas washes the decks, and crew, in salt water, pickling the wood and counteracting the invasive tendency of fresh water and dry rot.

In 1931, eyeing the success of this growing twenty-two boat bird class, Southern California yacht clubs attempted to develop a similar interclub racing fleet. The original lines of the Bird remained in a new John Alden design with the exception of a lengthened raised foredeck. Sail area was increased by 70 feet and the keel correspondingly lengthened and increased in weight from the original Alden design number 157. The net weight of the keel was less than the 3,600 pounds.

A variation was tried here with Bird number 16, Cuckoo, which was re-rigged to a high aspect configuration during the period of construction of the Golden Gate Bridge. In a competition with the original low-aspect rigged Birds, she proved a slower and less capable vessel. In 1935, her humiliation was completed with a dismasting. Local Bird lore states the exaggerated mast hung up on the underside of a Golden Gate Bridge causeway as she headed back to her berth. Cuckoo sails the Bay today, but with the regulation mast.

In the early 1980s an effort was initiated by class members to make a fiberglass mold in order to replace the aging hulls and perpetuate the class, believed to be dying. The effort failed because of inadequate resources and high investment costs.

It was during a period of grand yachting that San Francisco Bay found itself home to many well-known builders and evolving classes. The Bear was designed in 1931 as a kit or home-built boat to be a weekend sailor for two couples. Like a Bird, a Bear carries a large amount of sail on a smaller, sturdily built hull. The Golden Gate class was similarly constructed for the area's arduous conditions. Myron Spaulding, well known Bay Area yacht designer and builder, redesigned the rig of the smaller-sized Golden Gate from its Bird-like rig to its present high aspect Marconi rig. Prior to this, the boats were referred to as "baby Birds."

Tremendous restoration efforts have saved this historic San Francisco class from extinction. It's impressive that twenty two of the original twenty four hulls built still remain, either sailing the Bay as designed or in an interim stage of restoration. The majority of the boats have been maintained over the years, experiencing intermittent renewals as needed.

Large-scale renewals, such as the replacement of cockpits, transoms, foredecks and rigging are common among the fleet. The most well-known restoration was that of the Polly, initiated by the Master Mariners Benevolent Association in 1988. The only original parts left in the Polly are her keel, horn timber, deadwood and associated parts of her backbone. A similarly large scale project is currently underway by Jens Hansen on the Robin, which has been sailed by five generations of the Hansen Family.

Only two boats have failed to survive the test of time. The Osprey was stolen by an escaping convict in 1929 and wrecked on Dillon Beach. Falcon met her demise in the 1989 Master Mariners Regatta when, it is believed, bow planks opened up. She sank rapidly to her present home in the depths of the Bay near Alcatraz. Petrel was mistakenly believed to be so far gone that she would be salvaged for parts, yet today she lies in a boatyard regaining her integrity.

It is apparent that the Bird class will pass into the twenty-first century as an actively raced class on San Francisco Bay. The class currently races in the Master Mariners Regatta, the St. Francis Woodies Invitational Series, and the summer series of the Wooden Boat Racing Association, in addition to a class Perpetual Race. It is a magnificent sight to see these distinctly shaped relics of the past flying their spinnakers along the city front as the rest of the sailing world runs for cover from the gusts.

1996 marks the seventy fifth anniversary of the Bird Class. A series of celebrations and special races are planned to herald this milestone. Bird veterans will be encouraged to participate and share their history with current owners. The Bird Association has plans to join the Maritime Park in producing a display commemorating this historic class at Hyde Street Pier this summer.