Preview: Sailing with Bill Mayher on VITAL SPARK, A Concordia 31 Ketch

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Bill Mayher takes us for a sail on his Concordia 31 Ketch VITAL SPARK – a perfect balance of New England workboat sturdy and 1950s yachty.

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40 Responses So Far to “Sailing with Bill Mayher on VITAL SPARK, A Concordia 31 Ketch”

  • Suzan Wallace

    Suzan Wallace says:

    Wonderful…the nature of her grace and the sweet content of your conversation feels like home~

  • Joel Schwalb says:

    “It’s like dancing with your wife after a long marriage”. That says it all.

  • Graham Colville says:

    Greatly enjoyed watching this in the dead of night in Nicosia, Cyprus. Noting the chimney to starboard, is this from a wood-burning stove?

    • Eric Takakjian says:

      Great video and a wonderful boat. She is so well balanced. I’m an old tug and ship guy. This brings to mind a time, long ago when I met a friend of mine by chance in Panama. We were both on tugs headed in different directions. I asked him what he thought of the boat he was on, which didn’t have an autopilot. He was headed for Chile me for California. He replied “if you steady her up you have enough time to go down and make a sandwich” Gotta love a well balanced boat!!

  • Peter Rowe says:

    You chaps make good videos. Keep it up. I appreciate the good sound. So many sailing videos have terrible sound filled with wind pops. Yours are much better. I sail a semi-classic (C&C 35 Mk 3) made of plastic, and am not personally much tempted by wooden classics like the ones you like, but I do enjoy looking at your videos of them.

  • Paul Murray says:

    Cool. My wife and I have looked at a couple Concordia 31’s. What a lovely boat. So Pete Culler was involved eh? Wasn’t Bud McIntosh the builder of a few, too? I’ll have to keep looking. Wouldn’t it be nice to have one. Thanks for a wonderful video of a great boat.

    Paul Murray

    • maggy rhinelander says:

      Yes, when people wanted a “no frills” experience, Waldo sent them to Bud. They were usually happy, so it was good all around!

  • Chris Smead says:

    I’ve watched this video so many times! My wife loves it when I quote it [sarcasm]. If I have a short break at work, I can even watch it on mute whilst I snack. It has the perfect blend of tranquility and inspiration. What a treasure of a video, and of a boat! Bill has a great imagination and this boat lucked out to have such a steward.

  • eric pomber says:

    I just wanted to say thank you for the tour Bill Mayher gave to me and my wife last Wednesday. We really enjoyed seeing Center Harbor in person and look forward to each new video.

    Eric & Sharon Pomber

  • Chris Noto says:

    Well. Nice. The last words brought me fully into the frame. I’m still using the jib-headed sprit sail, bought from Bohndell’s in 1981, on the Bolger Teal that I built that year. It =is= a good feeling.

  • Neo Sovereign says:

    That winch with the integrated handle! Why can’t I find those anywhere?!

  • Eric Winter says:

    Were there other Concordia ketches built? Are there others around?

  • Steven Wallace says:

    OMG, this is the 6th time I have watched this and still can’t get enough. Thanks Bill and OCH.

  • Joe Corn says:

    Obviously Vital Spark deserves praise, but I applaud Bill’s home-spun but passionate exposition of its merits. He truly is the Robert Frost (or the E.B. White) of sailing! Someday Wanda and I may show up looking for a sail!

    • steve johnson says:

      Joe,I’d 2nd all you write here.. especially regards to Frost~White

  • George Weinbrenner says:

    George Weinbrenner says,
    What a pleasure to watch and listen to a person who loves his boat and knows what she can do. The”fellowship of the craft”. Listening to Bill was like I’ve known him and yet have never met. We share the love of boats and the sea.

  • Doc Knight says:

    Great video… For he who finds it hard to believe… I sail a 1940, John Hannah designed, Tahiti Ketch that is very similar to your “small ship”. The only difference is, she is gaff rigged with a tiller. She is so well balanced, I can sail for hours (alone / or not) and never touch the tiller. Pull the tiller over and your tack is done…a little trim for direction and wind…and off you go. For “bar pick-up” she is 42′ LOA and 30′ on deck and all original. Like you, after 50+ years of sailing & racing, this is the way to go for many more years. Thank you, we’re just not old time sailers. (See “Cruising World” November 1983 and “A Ship Called Kahiti” by John Steven Doherty). That is the “Viking”, my stewardship. I would like to see more about your rigging.

    • steve johnson says:

      This remark making casual reference to ‘Bar-Pickup’ cracks me up !
      I’ll be looking for for A Ship Called Kahiti . Thank you

  • Michael Naumann says:

    Hi, Bill – thanks for showing us around Deer Isle ten years or so ago… what a sweet little video this is. I really loved your comment about sitting in the cabin and admiring the wood-work around you. That’s what I do, too. And there is a lot to admire, as in Vital Spark. See you in July with Marie

    • Bill Mayher says:

      Great to hear from you Michael. See you this summer. Best to you and Marie,
      Bill

  • Bob Morris says:

    I will run this again (at least once or twice) great seeing Bill. Question: was this boat a development of the smaller Concordia boats credited by Waldo to Wilder B (Bill) Harris? Or was this one that Pete Culler did. She has even fuller ‘apple cheeks’ than a Bud MacIntosh boat- I think fuller than, say, Jon Wilson’s 33 which would have been a Harris boat.
    Keep up the great work- takes my mind off the pain when I’m on my rowing machine!

    • Bill Mayher says:

      Hi Bob,
      The Concordia 31′ was a Bill Harris design. I think they built 6 of them in Padanaram. Pete Culler was the chief builder at the time and she has many of his touches. Also he and Waldo Howland spent a lot of time rounding up the best possible materials which is why she has lasted in such wonderful condtion going into her 52nd year.
      Hope to see you next summer,
      All the best,
      Bill

  • peter strietmann says:

    Awesome boat! Everything about her is perfect!

  • David Tew

    David Tew says:

    Wha ta wonderful tribute. I didn’t know Peter or that he worked on your Vital Spark. The keel bolt removal story is a classic, well told!

  • Twayne Mobley says:

    Love the comment about “stewardship.” We often live in the moment and use our boats, but to have the perspective that we are just one in the line of owners of a beautiful and historic piece just sounds so right to me. At some points I will pass on my Island Packet to someone else, hoping that they will take of her and also act as stewards. Thanks for this video, and all the others!

  • John Wujack says:

    There’s so much to like in this boat. Thanks for sharing. Just beautiful.

  • Rick Robinson says:

    Pleasant conversation aboard a wonderful boat in perfect sailing conditions. It doesn’t get any better than that….

  • William Jacobs says:

    That’s it…. I’m going sailing this afternoon. I have a 52 year old 27′ wood sloop designed and built by George Luzier here in Sarasota…other than the rig, she is so similar. Thanks for the video.

  • Richard Archambault says:

    Sitting here at the mid March what can one say, other than what a lovely boat.

  • Capt. Peter Reich says:

    Great boat and video. That’s what sailing is all about!

  • Drew Waterbury says:

    Beautiful boat. It is nice to experience these boats through the videos.

  • Eigil Rothe says:

    Great video. I identify with Bill’s comment that he’s not a yacht club guy. My introduction to the value of the working class boat was Bud McIntosh through Swifty. Same dry understated sense of humor and wisdom worth taking to heart. Wonderful story. Thank you so much.

  • Brian Connelly says:

    I fell in love with the lines of Vital Spark when I first saw her in the Calendar of Wooden Boats years ago. I look forward to seeing her every time I sail into Center Harbor. Thanks for the video!

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