The Hinckley Pilot 35 Association made mid-coast Maine the destination of their 2018 Cruise. They gathered in Round Pond, Maine on Thursday, July 19, with an opening BBQ kick off. The fleet then sailed on Friday, July 20, through Muscongus Bay to Maple Juice Cove on the St. George River just down river from Lyman-Morse’s Thomaston facility.
On Saturday, July 21, the fleet continued up the river to Lyman-Morse for private tours of the yard and to spend the night dockside. Landcruisers met the fleet in Thomaston and celebrated the gathering with dockside cocktails and dinner.
Buzz Billik organized the event and expected 15-20 boats with other owners coming by land. “We are very excited to be hosting this group of owners,” said Drew Lyman, president of Lyman-Morse. “They are such a passionate group of sailors and we want to do everything we can to support them.” Points East Magazine and AGA Correa & Son are sponsors.
Hinckley Pilot 35 owners interested in attending similar gatherings should contact Buzz Billik via email: hinckley35@me.com
A bit of history on this iconic cruiser from Soundings Magazine: It was just after World War II when naval architect K. Aage Nielsen, working for Sparkman & Stephens, produced design No. 539 — a racer-cruiser with an enclosed head and a galley. Called a Pilot according to Rod Stephens, “for the class to lead the way into a revival of postwar yachting.”
In 1955, Maine boatbuilder Henry Hinckley asked S&S to update the 10-year-old Pilot. The result was design No. 1219, known as the Pilot 35. Seven sloops and a yawl were built in wood. In 1962, at Hinckley’s request, the Pilot 35 was redesigned for fiberglass construction. The result was design No. 1727, the boat we know as the Hinckley Pilot 35, built exclusively by Henry R. Hinckley & Co. Of the 117 Hinckley Pilot 35s built, 25 were yawls and the rest were sloops.