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Saturday May 10, 2014

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Marine Museum of the Great Lakes at Kingston

To Present a Major Exhibit and Outdoor Exhibition Entitled

New Age of Sail: The Story of Canada’s Sailing Boom

New Age of Sail Exhibit

From May 5^th to November 30^th of this year, The Marine Museum of the Great Lakes at Kingston will present a look back at the explosive growth in the popularity of recreational sailing from the late 1950’s, through the 70’s. Entitled New Age of Sail: The Story of Canada’s Sailing Boom, the exhibit will recall the exciting developments in design, construction and marketing that popularized the sport of sailing.

During these innovative years, the transition from wood construction to fiberglass gave designers the ability to conceive lighter, stronger and more durable boats. They were boats that builders could mass produce for an affordable price. And since they required less maintenance than their wooden predecessors, their owners could spend more time sailing them, and less time working to keep them shipshape. New yacht clubs and class associations sprang up as a post WW2 affluent middle class began looking for new ways to spend leisure time.

The New Age of Sail Exhibit will engage, inform and inspire. Visitors will encounter the past and present of recreational sailing. They will experience interactive displays, view pictorial remembrances of the era and the most famous boats. There will be half models, full models and actual boats on display, including Laser number 1, which has been generously loaned to the New Age of Sail exhibit by the Mystic Seaport - The Museum of America and the Sea.

The New Age of Sail Exhibit, co-curated by yacht designer and historian Rob Mazza, will honor the designers and builders of the time, giving visitors the opportunity to come to know the people and the personalities that launched sailing’s popularity. The Museum is especially pleased to have as honorary curators of the exhibit, George Cuthbertson, a founding partner of Canada’s most renowned yacht design firm, Cuthbertson and Cassian (C&C Yachts); and Bruce Kirby, the designer of the Laser one-design, America’s Cup 12-meter yacht Canada I, and dozens of other successful classes and custom designed boats.

More information about the New Age of Sail Exhibit may be found at the museum’s website www.marmuseum.ca.                                                                                                                    

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New Age of Sail Outdoor Exhibition

On the weekend of July 26 – 27, the grounds and waterfront surrounding the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes at Kingston will be the bustling with the New Age of Sail Outdoor Exhibition. The Exhibition will be open to the public and admission will be free

Experienced sailors and neophytes of all ages and interests will be captivated, enlightened and encouraged to experience the many different aspects of the sport.

There will be exhibitors and demonstrations offering information on a range of topics, including wood and fiberglass repair and restoration, a historic look from the old to the latest in equipment and technology, sails and sail making, lines and rigging, navigation, the purchase and care of a sailboat and learn-to-sail opportunities. Younger sailors, and those not so young, will be entertained with special activities including sailing demos around Kingston harbor, on land sailing simulators and radio controlled model boat races.

On display will be class boats that successfully converted from wood to fiberglass construction and still remain popular to this day, more than forty years later. We will also be showcasing the boats whose designs only became possible thanks to the technological advances of that time, including today’s modern skiffs and hydrofoils.

More information about the New Age of Sail Outdoor Exhibition may be found at the museum’s website www.marmuseum.ca.

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About the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes at Kingston

Founded in 1975 and located on Kingston, Ontario’s waterfront, the Museum is housed in the old Kingston Shipyard buildings beside the limestone dry dock built in 1891, designated a National Historic Site, and includes the original Engine House and pumps that emptied the dry dock. The Museum Ship Alexander Henry, a 210’ ice breaker, is berthed within the dry dock. On display in the galleries is a wide ranging collection of marine artifacts and exhibits, significant fine art collection, home to 50,000 ship and boat plans, 3,500 linear feet of archival records, 31,000 photo images, over 12,000 books and periodicals, and includes the C&C Yachts, TBF Benson and the Francis MacLachlan Collections.

We are a not-for-profit organization funded by our members and donors, as well as generous financial support from Canada Steamships Lines, the City of Kingston, and the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport. For more information, please visit our website www.marmuseum.ca.

For More Information Contact:
Doug Cowie                                                                            
Museum Manager
manager@marmuseum.ca                                                   
1-613-542-2261 

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Joint Press Release

Sail Canada is pleased to announce the induction of George Cuthbertson and Bruce Kirby into the Canadian Sailing Hall of Fame.

Canadian Sailing Hall of Fame
The Board of Directors of Sail Canada has determined to establish a Canadian Sailing Hall of Fame to recognise illustrious individuals who have made notable contributions to sailing in Canada and worldwide.  To honour these two great designers in 2014, Sail Canada is using the opportunity presented by the inauguration of the “New Age of Sail” exhibit by the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes at Kingston. Sail Canada and the Marine Museum have agreed to collaborate in the development of the Hall of Fame, initially in a virtual format, with a physical display to follow in due course.

George Cuthbertson
George Cuthbertson started his long yacht design career right out of university, and by the time of the founding of C&C Yachts in 1969 had already established himself and the design firm of Cuthbertson and Cassian as one of the handful of leading yacht design firms in the world. With Inishfree, Red Jacket, Inferno, the Redline 41, Manitou, and the C&C 27, 35, 39, 43, 50, and 61, George established a design legacy that would be the envy of any sailor or yacht designer in the world. The successful racing record of C&C designs on International racing circuits established the credibility and panache that led to the successful building of high quality production boats for everyday sailors, and attracted thousands of families to sailing as a recreational pursuit. However, George would cap that remarkable design career by becoming the President of C&C Yachts at a time when it became the most recognized and successful production and custom boat builder in North America and the world. Leaving C&C in 1981 after a corporate take-over, George returned to his first love design by re-establishing himself as an independent yacht designer. George’s contribution to Canadian yacht design and Canadian boatbuilding deserves to be recognized. Without George Cuthbertson there would still have been a boatbuilding industry in Canada, but George Cuthbertson made it a truly Canadian industry by building Canadian designs.

Bruce Kirby
Although Bruce Kirby is globally recognized as the designer of the 13’-10” Laser Olympic sailing dinghy, of which over 215,000 have now been built, Bruce’s design career embraces  seven renowned International 14’ Dinghy designs and a multitude of successful one-design classes, such as the Sonar, Kirby 25 and Ideal 18, America’s Cup Twelve Meters; production racer/cruisers like the San Juan 24 and 30;off-shore racing boats such as the Admiral’s Cup 40’ Runaway; a number of innovative cruising designs; and a variety  of plywood Sharpie designs for home construction. His sailing career is no less impressive, involving International Fourteen championships and International Team Racing, three Olympic campaigns, and off shore and Admiral’s Cup racing in his boats and others. On top of that Bruce was a pioneering sailing journalist, editor of One-Design and Off-Shore Yachtsman, which lives still as Sailing World magazine. Bruce is already a member of the US National Sailing Hall of Fame, the International Yacht Racing Hall of Fame, the Canadian International Fourteen Foot Dinghy Hall of Fame, and the City of Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame. It is long past due that Bruce be recognised in his native Canada for all his contributions to Canadian and International sailing.

‘New Age of Sail’ at the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes at Kingston
The New Age of Sail exhibit this summer at the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes at Kingston will focus on the huge growth in sailing in the 1960s and 70s brought on by a postwar boom economy and the introduction of fiberglass boatbuilding. Both George Cuthbertson and Bruce Kirby were instrumental in the growth of sailing in this period and both have agreed to be the Honourary Curators of this exhibit.

Inaugural Gala Dinner
George and Bruce’s achievements and contributions to Canadian Sailing will be celebrated at the Inaugural Gala dinner of the New Age of Sail exhibit. This dinner will be hosted by Kingston Yacht Club on the evening of May 10^th, 2014.
 

Comments from Sail Canada President
The Board of Sail Canada is delighted to be associated with the acknowledgment of the extraordinary contribution these sailors have made to Canadian and International Sailing.  Their recognition paves the way for Canadian sailing to honour other illustrious individuals who have brought considerable credit to the name of sailing in Canada.  We are delighted to be collaborating with the Marine Museum in this regard. The by-laws of the Hall of Fame will be posted in the coming weeks at www.sailing.ca

Comments from Marine Museum

The Marine Museum of the Great Lakes at Kingston is proud to be a part of the induction of George Cuthbertson and Bruce Kirby into the Canadian Sailing Hall of Fame and we look forward to working with Sail Canada to preserve and present the history of the Canadian Sailing Hall of Fame to the public.

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NEW AGE OF SAIL GRAND OPENING & GALA DINNER

Please telephone with the following information:

Number in your party

Name(s)      

Address

Email address

Telephone

Number of tickets @ $150 per person­­­

A tax receipt will be issued for the balance of your donation after expenses are deducted.

           Cheque

           Visa/Mastercard
           Expiry date 
           Code

Please share my credit card information with Kingston Yacht Club to facilitate easy purchase of bar drinks for the evening.  Yes or No

Table preference, I would like to sit with

Space is limited

Respond by April 15 to

Jana Clark

Marine Museum of the Great Lakes at Kingston, 55 Ontario St.

Telephone 613-542-2261

jclark@marmuseum.ca

The Kingston Yacht Club is located three blocks west of the Marine Museum, at 1 Maitland St.  

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