Sailing Pictures and Stories
Born in Duluth, Minnesota on the edge of Lake Superior, I seemed to have had an early interest in being a sailor. Approximatley 15 years after this picture was taken, I became a sailor in the U.S. Navy. Years later, many of my family members served in the navy as well. (Click here)
Before getting into civilian sailing, I built, cruised and raced power boats. I'm not sure which part of the process I enjoyed more, the building or the cruising and racing, but it was all a lot of fun.
"Zip
N Dip"
My first boat was this 14 foot runabout, which I built in 1953 from plans in a popular mechanics magazine. We named the boat "Zip N Dip" and powered it with a 10 horse Mercury outboard motor.
"Shur
Will" MMM
from plans in a popular as this
My next boat was a "B" class racing hydroplane, I built from a kit and raced in Southern California and Arizona in 1955 and 1956. The boat was powered with a modified 10 horse Mercury outboard.
"Shirl-E"
and Dingy
After a four year hiatus without a boat, I purchased this 32 foot fishing cruiser in 1960 and converted it to a cabin cruiser out fitted to sleep six in comfort, and we began cruising to Catalina Island and the Coast. Every cruising boat needs a dingy to get ashore, so I built this 8 foot pram from a kit.
(Boat picture goes here)
My first sailboat was a 20 foot sloop, I named "A Client." This was the boat that started a love affair for the Effinger family with ocean racing and cruising that spanned 12 fun-filled years.
"Sir
Galley Head"
My second sailboat was a 28 foot sloop I named "Sir GalleyHead" which we took on our first long distance race from Long Beach to Ensenada Mexico, which turned out to be quite an adventure on the return trip home. More on this later.
"Celerity"
Celerity, a 36 foot sloop, was my third sailboat. By now we were racing every weekend and mid-week during the summers of 1965,'66,'67 & '68 out of the Long Beach Yacht club. I crewed on the sister boat of the same class, and we won the Los Angeles to Mazatlan Mexico race, finishing first over-all in handicap and almost first, boat for boat. Our skipper and my friend Bill Polly and the crew,were written up in every sailing magazine in the country. It was quite a fete.
"Valor"
The fourth and last sailboat I owned, was the 50 foot sloop Valor, in which, we placed 2nd overall in the Newport to Ensenada race on our first outing in 1970. My family and I had more fun on this boat than all the rest of them put together. We won more races and hosted more parties aboard than I can remember. We all have fond memories of our exploits with Valor.
(Boat picture goes here)
Now I belong to a commercial yacht club in San Diego and try to sail once a month and cruise to Catalina once a year with my wife and friends.
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