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THE SCARSDALE INQUIRER, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 1020Olirt Stephens of Searsdale Is Yacht Designerjvlt;’ ont giv nbl the dor coil In In ext Boi ‘ of grc ere mn the Inti grt phi IA year ago in June, Sparkman, Naval Architect, at 11 East 44 Street,11 New York City anti City Island, be-■ came Sparkman and Stephens. That 1 j was when young O'.in Stephens, the son of Mr. and Mrs, Roderick Ste-iphens of 11 Brayton Road, joined the ' | firm as a qualified designer of yachts. Not so many years ago a boy was drawing boats on his French and Latin books in the Searsdale High School, i Cruisers and schooners sailed on the margins of Shakespeare, and the boy's summers were spent skimming up and down the sound. He loved Ij boats, he has always loved them, and I without a doubt he always will.I The boy who drew boats on the nwr-) j gins of his books was graduated from fjthe school and entered the Massa-j I chusetts Institute of Technology to j start the study of naval architecture. 3 r He learned quickly, and before the l [.course was finished, he had decided J - to enter the business as a more practical training school than that offered with a sheepskin as its goal.So, as Stephens of Sparkman and Stephens, he began his work. The list I of his own plans is growing. The six meter yacht Thalia, owned by L. G. Young of Bronxville, is the best known of his works so far. His younger brother, Rod, did some of the actual j building of the boat, and between | them, Thalia was launched with the ■ hope that she will carry off the title in next year’s international Brittsh-American race for six meters.Then fifteen Junior boats were modeled after the Stephens design, and they are known to the Junior [ Yacht Racing Association, which en- ! courages a knowledge of sailing for those under eighteen years of age. The important clubs now own three or four of these smaller, lightweight boats, only llfteen feel long in the water. Several architectural firms turned in! their plans in a competition, and Mr.; Stephen's was chosen from the lot as the best suited to the needs and aims of the junior yachtsmen. The young architect drew up plans for a power boat, and sent them off to South America so that the craft might be built there. He never heard whether the boat was launched or not, but he received a check from a well-satisfied client.The more you know about sailing, ihe easier it is to design your yacht, Mr. Stephens says. He has some blueprints recently finished that show a remarkable idea of the structural process of ship building. Even the uninitiated eye can admire the ctean lines of the basic sketches developing into blueprinted etchings of the boat, ready to sail off on the wind over the architectural sea.Some yacht designers don’t know very much about sailing and the boats themselves, but on authority we quote that everyone must know a bit about jit. Actual experience, in this line of work as in all others, is most essential for an Insight into the intricatemechanisms of the subject.Rod Stephens is working now in n * Nevins Ship Yard, one of the most .or famous in the country. He, loo, has jof grown up with boats, and is tackling ox the business from the other end. His ow brother is proud of that, because, as na he says, it's a good thing to establish a contact between designer and build-er. With one of each In the same fam- slc ily, who knows how long It will be a before they comer the yacht market ? (w* Olln Stephens Is now working on j plans for a cruising boat for his ^yfather. Next year they both hope thatthe designer, taking his turn as skip- j per, will win the Bermuda race. He,Is deslgntng a six meter, too. that wilt |to be completed and ordered any day, j ne On the subject of selling, Mr, Ste- ■ T1phens is philosophical, A great manybuyers come to the architect with a j ce description of their wants but if no buyer is in sight the designer goes out *el and creates the desire of a yacht in a Ntl handy citizen. The mountain comes to Mahomet, for diplomacy is as neces- *■*'thsays in this trade as it is for the cabinet minister.The younger partner of Sparkman and Stephens is very modest. Only his bl enthusiasm for his work could Induce1 him to have an interview, and in his I quiet voice he instills a respect in his arhearer for things nautical. To know 1 h£ a boat Is to love one, and how could P1 anyone have a yacht If it were not first designed?
Newspaper Details
Scarsdale Inquirer
Scarsdale, New York, US
Fri, Nov 08, 1929
Page 13
Full Page
Clipped by
Heather H.
USA 10 Jan 2025
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