Snipe #12521, Katawampus, 1963

Snipe Fleet 24 / May 1, 2013 / Leave a comment / Classic Snipes, Our Boats

Above Photo Credit: Madoka Hamlin

Above Photo Credit: Rick Horner Photography

Katawampus was launched in 1963, as a family boat by a German boat builder, who learned traditional boatbuilding at the Baltic Sea sometime around the 40’s. She is built in red cedar with mahogany framing and mahogany plywood deck. The boat is in original condition since launched in 63, including the wooden spars and original Race Lite hardware, which was the standard hardware in these days.

After completion Katawampus was originally assigned to number 14729, but due to rule changes during it’s construction period, was reassigned to number 12521 at the time of measurement to apply measurement rules reflecting the beginning of the construction.

Katawampus carries both numbers on the keelson. The boat was built right around the time when Snipes went through some major design changes, notably the introduction of rolled decks, triggered mostly by new hiking techniques. Rules did not establish how much decks could be rolled and Katawampus builder decided to give the deck much more curvature then what we see nowadays in Snipes, which provides a large and comfortable cockpit and makes Katawampus an unique example f its time.