Preview: Ben Seaborn’s Fabulous Thunderbirds, A Badass Family Boat for Racing & Cruising

21 Responses So Far to “Ben Seaborn’s Fabulous Thunderbirds, A Badass Family Boat for Racing & Cruising”

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  Michael Ryan says:

  Maybe if you visit this area stop by and check out the Gig Harbor Boatshop. #2 Pirouette resides here.

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  Barry Sherwood says:

  enjoyed the article and was interested in reading more about ben seaborn but the links didn’t – is there any correction possible?

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    Nate Rooks says:

    Hi Barry – It appears they have been taken offline. We’ll keep looking.

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  John Madison says:

  Just joined because a friend sent me the link to the article about Thunderbirds. I was excited to be able to see something about a boat I owned when in my 30’s. I’m now mid-70’s. I was totally floored when i opened the video….there was my old boat…Dorado, sail #242. She’s been well maintained, obviously, and I’m thrilled that someone is still loving this craft as I did. I moored on north Lake Union in Seattle and spend many hours on Lake Washington, the Sound and in the San Juans. Thank you so much for this stroll down memory lane.

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  Robert Daley says:

  My dad had our Thunder Bird (sail # 607) built in Tondawanda, NY in 1968. We sailed it on lake Erie for 10 years. We named her SelReeb which is Beerless spelled backwords, That was my moms idea since my dad was in AA. We had sold it after we purchased another boat. The gentleman that bought it in 1993 had sailed it up until 2015 he named her Kelly Meg after his daughter. It is still in decent condition, The Sea Scouts here in Buffalo now own it

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  Jack Kennedy says:

  Played this video on my I phone to our Fleet 1 Thunderbird Sailboat meeting this past Friday. Putting aside the obvious limitations of viewing a video via I phone for Fleet members in attendance huddled around a table, everyone agreed this video was the finest depiction of the unique history and addictive attraction of the Thunderbird sailboat lo these 60 years of its history (first launched in 1958) that any of us have ever seen. Thunderbirders don’t “own” these vintage Thunderbirds they act as grateful caretakers of these boats until the next lucky owner comes along. Many, many of the some 1300 Thunderbirds built since 1958 have been passed down from generation to generation or not infrequently a child who grew up on his or her parents’ Thunderbird in the 50’s or 60’s will track down the old family boat and make the current owner an “offer they can’t refuse” and buy back and restore the boat that once meant so much to them and their family. The charm and incredible versatility of these boats for cruising and racing just never seems to get old. Once hooked, many Thunderbirders- as this video well shows- are hooked for life, even if sometimes succumbing belatedly to the allure of the Thunderbird. And, if you own a Thunderbird and are on a dock or on the hook, it never fails that someone (sometimes someone up in years or someone who was the son or daughter of a former Thunderbirder) will approach and say “I used to own or sail on Hull #-, I wish I would never have let it go.” Thanks Eric and Steve for a truly great video!

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  Robert Gibson says:

  Any one know where you may obtain plans for a thunderbird

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    Eric Peterson says:

    http://www.clarkcraft.com/cgi-local/shop_responsive.pl?cart_id=e23e437d0193349b9f33915b6e62e9eb&type=item&item=943134490&categ=019

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    Aaron Milligan says:

    http://thunderbirdsailing.org/plans/ for $60, from the class website, includes 1 year membership.

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  Fraser Robidoux says:

  We had a fleet in my hometown Shediac New Brunswick. Ernie, Cam and Gene Boudreau built one in a barn. They laid the keel on New Years day and won their first race in July the same year. Siren II was a really fast boat and they won many of the races they were in.

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  peter bachmann says:

  If anyone knows of one for sale (sail) in southern NE, LMK……

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  David Tew says:

  There’s a Ben Seaborn Sierra 26 (round bottom design otherwise similar to a Thunderbird) listed on Boneyard Boats: https://www.boneyardboats.com/

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  Peter North says:

  Owned one in the 80’s in Salem, Mass. Sails very well and more sea kindly than some might expect. Nice design nothing wrong with a good plywood boat. Can still picture my infant son in his carrier rocking in the cockpit. He is 33 now…lol. Another plywood design in the Northeast was the Barnegat 20 built by Graves in Marblehead. Owned one after the Thunderbird, the Barnegat was a better built boat, higher quality plywood. I would imagine quality on the homebuilt can vary.

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  Mal Botterill says:

  Saw my first Thunderbird in Rabal PNG in 1968. It was enrout from Japan to Australia and made the pasage despite the riging having been borrowed from a backyard cloths line due to the lack of stainless wire in Rabaul. There was a steel Thunderbird in Pt Moresby Papua in the early 1970’s which could surprise some of the more competative sailors of the yacht club.There was also a fleet of them on Pt Phllip Bay in Melbourne so they certainly spread their reputation world wide.

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  Chris Noto says:

  Great video. I’m so grateful to see a boat that I could actually afford to own being featured in OCH. Don’t get me wrong, the gold-platers are works of art, and I’m glad that they exist, and that I get to see them here, but I’d love to see a significant ramping up in the percentage of OCH’s coverage of more affordable boats of all sizes.

  I spent $4,500 on a thirty year old Sea Pearl 21 this spring, and, considering that I’m now 67 years old and retired, I may never spend a lot more than that on a boat. Even the materials to build something like an Ilur or a Caledonia Yawl run about double that amount!

  I’d love to see any responses that might occur to OCH crew and other members in this regard.

  All the best to you all this holiday season.

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  David Tew says:

  Music by The Thunderbirds. :D

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    Steve Stone says:

    Good catch Dave.

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  David Tew says:

  When I was in my teens I was a member of a crew that represented New England in the Junior National Championships’ Sears Cup event. One of the qualifying regattas was sailed in Thunderbirds and they were speedy and maneuverable. It was the first time I’d sailed aboard a boat with a fin keel and separate rudder. It would spin so swiftly that I almost got whipped off the foredeck the first time we rounded a windward mark as I was setting the spinnaker. Exciting!

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  Patrick McGough says:

  If anyone knows of one on the Chesapeake that needs a good home…I have a Sea Scout ship that would love to have such an awesome boat!!!!!! Just saying!!!!! Although owning one privately would be just as cool!!!!!!

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  Anne Bray says:

  I want a Thunderbird. Don’t tell Maynard.

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    Gene Porter says:

    So do I – for the last 50 years.
    There is a nice one in service in Charlotte Vt