Thunderbird 50^th Anniversary Celebration

Aug 1^st - 3^rd, 2008

By Dale Dunning

It was 1958. Dwight Eisenhower was the President of the United States, the Seattle University basketball team lost to Kentucky in the NCAA finals, “Gunsmoke” was the number one TV show, “At the Hop” was the number one song, and a Gig Harbor boat builder by the name of Ed Hoppen launched hull #1 of the Ben Seaborn designed Thunderbird sailboat.

Nobody at the time could have imagined the glorious celebration 50 years later in that same little town of Gig Harbor.  And it was a glorious celebration that exceeded everyone’s expectations.  The organizing committee had expected 30 boats and got 50.  T’birders from as far away as Australia, Boston, and Canada as well as the Thunderbird, Orcas, from Colorado Springs attended the festivities.  The Saturday banquet dinner was a total sellout with 220 people attending.   The mayor of Gig Harbor had to pull in temporary docks at the last minute in order to accommodate the hordes of boats.

Alyssa Farber motors 542 Thatuna into heavy wind and waves on the way south to Gig Harbor

Friday saw the arrival of the Thunderbirds.  Boats from all points north had to battle an unusually strong southerly wind.  Some motored, some motor-sailed, and the really hearty just sailed. 

Thunderbirds moored on the temporary public docks

Thunderbirds moored on the main public dock.

Large groups of people milled around the docks admiring the eclectic display of Thunderbirds.  There were very old birds and very new birds, bright shiny hulls and hulls that showed the character that comes with time.  In most cases the boats were rafted 3 deep with the notable exception of the beautiful blue hulled Orcas. Everyone was too afraid to raft up to such an exquisite boat.

More Thunderbirds on the pubic dock

Orcas moored all by herself

Friday evening featured wine and hors d’oeuvres at the Gig Harbor Yacht Club. It was a great time to catch up with old friends and acquaintances in a casual atmosphere.  There were visual displays set up by the Gig Harbor museum and attendees had the opportunity to buy commemorative t-shirts and other items.

The crowd watches as Thunderbaby is backed up to the water

Saturday morning was the christening and launching of hull number 1266 Thunderbaby.  Close to one hundred onlookers watched as Duane Emnott and his wife Lisa led the christening ceremony and initial splash down into the waters of the harbor.  People from all over the world have followed the progress online of Duane’s boat.  The project started because Duane was the lucky winner of a set of plans given in a drawing during the 2006 Northwest Regionals in Port Townsend Washington.  Figuring that it was an omen that he should build a Thunderbird like his father (Kahlua #262), Duane turned sheets of plywood and raw timbers into a beautiful seaworthy work of art.  It was very gratifying to watch 3 generations of Emnotts motor away on Thunderbaby.

The Emnott Family on Thunderbaby's maiden voyage

The next big event for Saturday was the regatta.  The strong winds of the previous day totally disappeared and the competitors were left to battle in the normal “fickle” breeze of the South Sound.  The race committee found a spot to stage the races 5 miles north of the Gig Harbor entrance up Colvos Passage in area known as Paradise Cove that is adjacent to camp Sealth. For most of the day the cove featured a challenging clockwise eddy.  The regatta was divided into two starts, a flying sails class and a non flying sails class.

Flying sails start in the last race of the day

The first race was started in a light southwesterly breeze with the current pushing a number of boats over early including yours truly on Water Torture.  Working up toward the windward mark proved to be very challenging for most of the boats as the wind died at the mark and the current on the other side of the eddy was heading in the exact opposite direction from the start.  It was clear that once you rounded the mark you needed to stay in the middle of the channel in order to take advantage of the current.  It was fun to watch the boats that went back to the shore sail backwards as the breeze died.  Water Torture had worked into second position behind Valkyrie until the race was cancelled due to no wind.

There was a long delay waiting for the wind to fill in before we could get another start.  While waiting the fleet got to watch Vidas Stukas on Owl play with his new Asymmetrical experimental sail and retracting bow sprit in the little spots of wind that existed.  Could this be the future of Thunderbird sailing in the 21^st century?

Finally enough wind filled in to get another start.  Jamie Storkman on Fandango got a very good start and Water Torture got buried on the line and had to tack out to the unfavorable side of the course.  When we got to the windward mark we were in the middle of the fleet.  Having remembered the lesson of the first abandoned race we immediately gybed to get to the middle of the channel.  By the time we reached the leeward mark Fandango was well ahead but everyone else was behind.  We followed Fandango back to the beach and watched anxiously as the boats behind us kept getting those magical lifts.  We were able to hold them off in the end and finish second.

In the final race our strategy was to get a clean start and sail to the beach even if it meant starting some distance from the favored pin end of the line.  We did get a good clean start but Fandango got a great start right at the pin.  High risk, high reward.  We rounded the windward mark about 6 or 7 boats behind Fandango with Raptor right on our heels.  We managed to pull away from Raptor and the rest of the fleet on the downwind run and Fandango managed to pull away from us.  It was a classic case of the rich getting richer.

Water Torture crew after a fun day of racing

In the non-flying sails division Frolic and Nahanni battled it out for bragging rights with Frolic winning on the tie breaker.  It was truly wonderful to see 30 boats out racing and it is also heartening to know that the two senior citizens, #9 Fandango and #20 Water Torture are still pretty competitive.  Ed Hoppen would be proud.

The Saturday night banquet dinner went exceeding well despite the huge crowd with only minor hiccups in getting seats for everybody.  The Mayor of Gig Harbor, who also owns a Thunderbird, gave the welcoming.  The guest speaker, Mark Hoppen, showed a slide show presentation and talked about growing up with his dad Ed Hoppen at the Eddon Boat Works.

Thunderbird trophies designed and built by Ed Josberger 

Ed Josberger awarded his custom made Thunderbird models to the winners (first thru fourth) of both the Saturday classes (flying and non flying).  The models are incredibly beautiful and are going to be a prized possession for all of those who received one.

Thunderbirds maneuver around obstacles to pick up the cards

Sunday’s featured event was the “Flight of the Flock” which was basically a poker run in the Gig Harbor bay.  The object was to visit each of the 6 inflatables anchored in the bay and pick up a card.  You could go to any location in any order but you had to visit every location once before you could go back and get another card from the same location.  At the end of the allotted time the cards were turned in at the dock and later drawn for prizes.  The wind was around 2-3 knots but picked up somewhat later during the run and then died as the gun went off to end the event.  It was quite a site for those on shore to watch all of the Thunderbirds zigzagging around the harbor.  It was also a very fun event that I would love to do again.

Flight of the flock gather around whaler near the entrance to the harbor

The weekend ended with the awarding of prizes for the “Flight of the Flock”.  There were life vests, t-shirts and hats, lots of coffee, and a huge variety of other items.  It took at least 30 minutes to give it all away but virtually everyone left happy and with something to show for their efforts.

And then the Thunderbirds left Gig Harbor.  Some of them headed south for extended cruising.  Others headed north back to their home ports.  It was a fantastic weekend that none of us who had the opportunity to participate will ever forget.  We all want to thank the volunteers and sponsors who put in countless hours in the two years prior to the event for a very well planned, well executed celebration.  God and termites willing, I will be back for the seventy fifth anniversary.