Every so often, a customer story comes along that makes us smile from ear to ear. Robert Starr, a successful author based in the inland Northwest of the U.S, has spent over a year lovingly restoring his beautiful lapstrake dinghy Windward and we’re delighted that he chose our Classic Wooden Victory Blocks to play a role in her return to the water. Following Robert’s progress has been a fantastic reminder as to why we do what we do every day, manufacturing our range of blocks in the UK and so we thought we’d share it with everyone.
A vision for a classic boat
Robert was instantly taken with Windward’s elegant lines and knew she was the boat for him. However, having seen better days, he knew his task was sizeable with every boat building skill required across the project. With a level of attention to detail most of us can only dream of, he also decided to improve her design with a new rig to make sailing as simple, safe, and enjoyable as possible. Having professionally raced cars around the world, Windward is his path to a more relaxed pace of life. As such, he decided to incorporate a sprit sail, but with a twist. He designed what he calls a wishbone sprit, which includes two sprit arms so one is always on the leeward side, giving balanced performance whichever way the wind blows.
Taking inspiration from the Morbic 12 design, he also plans to add a removable bowsprit, along with a small jib, perfect for light winds on his local lakes. All this cloth will be flown alongside Barton Victory 50030 Wooden Blocks to perfectly fit the style of the restoration whilst reliably carrying the load.
Why Robert chose Barton
We were thrilled to read Robert’s words about our blocks,
“I love the classic wooden Barton Victory Blocks for their traditional looks and because they are designed for easy repair or refinishing to suit the yacht they are fitted to. They’ll probably draw more attention than any other feature of the boat!”
For Robert, it wasn’t just about functionality, but also about finding deck gear that would complement the traditional look of his wooden dinghy while standing up to years of sailing with his grandsons.
It means a lot to our team to know that our products are helping bring boats like Windward back to life.
Battling the weather (and the workshop)
Of course, no restoration is ever straightforward. Robert carried out the work on a farm in Eastern Washington, where freezing winter temperatures often make varnishing and gluing a challenge. Coats of epoxy had to be squeezed in during brief warm spells and the boat juggled between various sheds as required by the needs of the farm.
Despite huge amounts of care, unexpected breakages, the need to rest whilst recovering from surgery, and the usual “two steps forward, one step back” moments of boatbuilding, it’s clearly a project fuelled by patience, perseverance, and a love of sailing.
Step by step, Windward shines again
Despite the niggles, Robert has achieved an incredible amount in a year. Seats stripped and re-varnished, daggerboard and rudder reshaped and refinished, transom reinforced with hardwood, watertight hatches added, and belaying-pin racks built by the mast. He even rounded and stained the gunwales for a softer, more classic feel.
His mast will feature a removable top section for transport, a new external sail track for the sprit sail, and a smart reefing setup so he can reduce sail in seconds. True to Robert’s tidy nature, everything including mast, sprit, and sail will stow neatly inside the boat for transport on its trailer.
Looking ahead to the first sail
The finishing touches are in sight. With polishing, waxing, and a few final fittings, Robert will soon be ready to launch Windward on one of the sparkling lakes near his home. Soon he’ll be teaching his grandsons to sail aboard this lovingly restored dinghy, passing on both skills and memories that will last a lifetime. May this be an inspiration to everyone thinking about or currently undertaking a restoration of their own.
From everyone at Barton Marine, thank you, Robert, for sharing your journey with us. Your dedication and creativity has enthused us and we can’t wait to see photos of Windward under sail with her wooden Barton Victory Blocks proudly in place.
