28 FT CUTTER “KATY”
He fell in love with the idea of a big wooden catboat but sailed away on Katy instead. Katy’s owner originally envisioned himself on board a Fenwick William’s designed catboat but after spotting a schooner model in the home of the owner of the late designer’s plans, he asked E.M. Crosby Boatworks to build the boat of his dreams.
Using plans adapted by naval architect Bill Peterson to accommodate a cutter rig, Ned and the late Teddy Crosby, who had recently “retired” from the Crosby Yacht Yard, built Katy from the ground up: Her keel was one 24-foot-long piece of oak, which the builder, Ned, wet down and bent on the grass behind the shop, then bolted to a 4,400 lb. lead ballast keel. Ned went more high tech with lofting the boat; Edmonds Design used a CNC machine to create and produce the station molds. The owner travelled to Maine to order a 6’ cabin house from a friend who was a woodworker and boatbuilder, and to Vermont for a hollow fir mast from a spar maker. During this time, Crosby’s crew added ribbands, steam bent white oak for frames, and then completed the planking in one month’s time. South African mahogany coamings were added, the hull painted, the caprails varnished and Katy was ready for her launch party. Then the owner accomplished his second dream – to sail Katy to Bermuda before his 70th birthday. Katy now lies at anchor in Cotuit, MA.
THE CONSTRUCTION OF KATY
Stem is attached and Mike and Ned’s sister, Jennifer, admire the results. Jen was the shop receptionist at the time before she left to travel with her husband and the elder sister, Karen, took over.
Katy was lofted by a computer program. The results were sent to a CNC cutting machine and within minutes, we had the station molds we were looking for.
