Ship profile for the sailing ship: "Sigsbee"

Technical data of the sailing ship:

Name:Sigsbee
Registered port:Baltimore
Nation:USA
Type of rigging:SLUP
Type of ship:Chesapeake Bay Skipjack
Year built:1901
Yard:Deal Island, Maryland, USA
Overall length:23.15 m
Length (hull):15.25 m
Breadth:4.90 m
Draught:1.05 m
Sail area:170 m2
Ship's hull:Holz / Wood
Power:150 PS
Engine:Diesel

Portrait of the sailing ship:

Last update: 30 Dec 2001

  • traditional Chesapeake Bay skipjack built in 1901 at Deal Island, Maryland, USA; skipjacks are sailing crafts designed and built to dredge for oysters, during the peak building years approximately from the 1880s to 1910 it is estimated well over a thousand skipjacks were built, skipjacks typically have a flat or v-shaped bottom and a shallow draft with a centerboard, the rig is simple, a self-tending jib and large triangular mainsail make these vessels easy to sail with a small crew.
  • served in the oystering fleet for 88 years, was owned by Wade Murphy for many years, who later bought the "Rebecca T. Ruark", in the early 1980s, she became the first skipjack captained by a woman, by Mrs. Leigh Hunteman of St. Michaels, sold to Doug West in the late 1980s, sunk during a skipjack race in 1991.
  • in the early 1990s donated to the Living Classrooms Foundation, 1994 start of a 10 month reconstruction programme "Save our Skipjacks" by students and shipwrights, the only original parts of the boat remaining include the mast step, hardware, and sails.
  • sails as part of the Living Classrooms Foundation's educational fleet, serving thousands of students per year today, sailing trips in the Chesapeake Bay and the Delaware river, where participants learn the history of skipjacks and the oyster industry, marine and nautical science.
  • named for the Commanding Officer of the battleship "Maine" Charles D. Sigsbee.

Contact:

Website (English, 10 Nov 2001):
http://www.livingclassrooms.org/Facilities/Sigsbee.html
Chesapeake Bay Skipjack Sigsbee: a photo, history and main specification at the website of the operator Living Classrooms Foundation

Literature for further reading:

We recommend the following references for your further research of the ship. The references marked with have been included in the generation of the ship profile on this page.

American Sail Training Association (ASTA)
"Sail Tall Ships! A Directory of Sail Training and Adventure at Sea"
2000 ISBN: 0-9636483-5-7
(12th Edition)
Page: 233 Source with picture Source with history Source with technical data Quelle with contact

American Sail Training Association (ASTA)
"Sail Tall Ships! A Directory of Sail Training and Adventure at Sea"
2007 ISBN: 978-0-9799878-0-9
(17th Edition)
Page: 258 Source with picture Source with history Source with technical data Quelle with contact