Cyrus Hamlin

The following are parts of an article written by Cynthia Hooper Wallace that appeared in the 1972 Yearbook.

"We first met Cyrus Hamlin and family at the First Annual Friendship Sloop Day. An invited guest, he literally "saved" the race when our handicap buoys sank. No problem for "Cy" - he sat down in the middle of Herald Jones' living room floor with pocket slide rule in hand, and rated each boat's finish on an elapsed-time basis. Fortunately for us, Cy agreed to serve as Official Handicapper for our races each year. This is no small service because Cyrus Hamlin is a busy man.

He began his career in 1936 as an apprenticed draftsman and boat builder at the Mill River Boat Works, Oceanside, New York. In 1939, he moved to Maine where he was jointly employed by the Henry R. Hinckley Co. and the Southwest Boat Corporation in Southwest Harbor, Maine. His designs included several draggers, including the 97' Bonaventure, the 65' ferry, Vinalhaven II, and 30' W.S. Army mine yawls. His work also included supervision of a program to build six 44' sailing yawls for the U.S. Naval Academy.

Following the war, he was offered the first one-year work-study Fellowship ever given by the Experimental Towing Tank of the Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, New Jersey.

Cy established his own designing and marine survey office in 1956. Among his designs was a 27' cruising sloop of which 26 eventually were built in Yugoslavia for the U.S. market, and many more sail and power yachts from 21' and 45' in length.

When one's work is as interesting and as varied as this, one wonders what is considered exceptional? Cy Hamlin calls his design of the 75' Hudson River Sloop Clearwater for the anti-pollution group headed by folk singer, Pete Seeger, a "one-in-a-lifetime" job.

Throughout his career, Cy Hamlin has brought pleasure and success to others through his designs and innovative ideas. He modestly sees nothing unusual nor outstanding in his remarkable career as he casually remarks, "It'd be boring if it were all the same." The Friendship Sloop Society is proud to have him as an honorary member and fortunate to receive his unselfish annual service as our Official Handicapper."