History

The Thunderbird story began in 1958 when Tom Sias, a Tacoma sailor working for the Douglas Fir Plywood Association, conceived the idea of a sailboat to be built out of plywood by an amateur builder which would “be both a racing and cruising boat…sleep four…be capable of being built by reasonably skilled amateurs…be powered by … Read more

Year       Skipper                     Boat                                 Hull           Fleet                         Host City 1966       Bob Johnson             Tokoa                               2                San Diego                 Seattle 1968       Tony Redstone         Piper                                539            Sydney                      San Diego 1970       Tony Parks                Moonraker                     904            Sydney                      Sydney 1971       John Malleson          Sunday                            900            Victoria                     Victoria 1973      Tanker Jones             Totem Too                      271            Whitby                       Whitby 1975      Sandy Pratt                Le Bar                             711            Seattle                       Seattle 1977      Leonard Witkins       … Read more

Thunderbaby was built by Duane Emnott.  She is the the newest Thunderbird in the worldwide fleet.  With a  gorgeously varnished wood hull she was launched as the fleet celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2008.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Will Vivachee ever see water? Stay tuned!

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