skipjack sailboat sails

Home > Find Your Sail > Search by Make and Model > Skipjack

Skipjack Models:

Request a skipjack quote.

Looking to buy a new headsail or mainsail for your Skipjack? Request a free quote from Precision Sails for a new custom sail. Our team will work with you to design the perfect sail for you.

" * " indicates required fields

Thanks for telling us a bit about yourself and your boat. Our team will send you a preliminary quote based on information we have gathered from sailors similar to you.

We will give you a call in order to narrow down the options on your quote and improve the accuracy. If you want us to call you at a specific time, feel free to schedule a time on our calendar!

Thanks for telling us a bit about yourself and your boat. Our team will reach out to offer some suggestions and get started on finding you the perfect sail!

• St. Michaels On The Bay
• The H.M. Krentz
• Join us for a sail
• Skipjack History

“ Relaxing, educational and unforgettable! ”

Enjoy a sailing tour on Chesapeake Bay waters aboard this rare skipjack.

The H.M. Krentz is an authentic working skipjack. One of the newer vessels to be built for the rigors of Maryland’s wintertime commercial oyster dredging fishery. Launched in 1955 in Harry Hogan, Va., by the Krentz Shipyard for Capt....

After choosing to pursue an education by experience, Capt. Ed participated in the pilot internship programs of Dynamy in Worcester, Mass., and worked with the Hurricane Island Outward Bound School and the Apprecticeshop in Maine. Then, sailing...

St. Michaels is the center of a unique and magical waterworld on Maryland’s fabled Eastern Shore, about halfway between the Susquehanna source and the Atlantic mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. This diminutive well-preserved vintage port,...

Chesapeake Bay Sailing Tours

Enjoy a relaxing, educational, and unforgettable sailing tour on Chesapeake Bay waters on the historic skipjack H.M. Krentz. We can arrange for catered picnics, cocktails and hor d’oeuvres, or you can bring your own food and beverages. Dress as comfortably and casually as you like.

Advance purchase recommended as t ours often sell out. 

**If you would like a private charter, please call (410) 745-6080 or email: [email protected]

Examples of Our Work

Designed by Elegant WordPress Themes | Powered by WordPress

Chesapeake Bay Magazine

The Best of the Bay

Skipjack for Sale: Nonprofit Appeals to Public to Bring Her Back to the Bay

The skipjack may be the perfect symbol of the Chesapeake Bay’s history. With graceful lines and a muddy deck, the sail-powered workboat is beautiful but raw. In the first half of the 20th century, 800 skipjacks sailed the region, and today the number has dwindled to 30. Only six are still used for oyster dredging.

In the last decade, one of these rare beauties found her way down to North Carolina’s Pamlico Sound, where she’s been used for charters and educational tours. Now, the owners are forced to sell, and they’re making a public appeal to the Chesapeake Bay community to bring this skipjack home to the Bay.

The Wilma Lee was built in 1940 by famed boatbuilder Bronza Parks. A Sandy Point, Virginia man named Herb Carden bought and restored her beginning in 2002, to the tune of $600,000. He modernized things a bit, adding an engine, stainless steel rails and a fiberglass deck. But her classic skipjack lines are intact. When Carden was finished, he felt that Wilma Lee was too important just to sit at his dock. He donated her to Ocracoke Alive, a nonprofit education and arts group on Ocracoke Island.

The nonprofit made a considerable investment to bring the skipjack up to Coast Guard regulations for carrying passengers, and today she can accommodate up to 42 guests. Since 2012, a commercial captain has partnered with Ocracoke Alive, and she’s been used for sunset cruises and weddings, as well as educational programs for kids.

When the captain, who is in his 70s, decided to retire, Ocracoke Alive just couldn’t find another qualified captain willing to take on the task. Tom Pahl, chairmain of the Wilma Lee Committee, tells me that’s when they made the difficult decision to sell her.

Pahl says Wilma Lee , which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, belongs back on the Chesapeake Bay, and he appealed to Bay Bulletin to help find a Bay buyer.

Among antique skipjacks, Pahl says Wilma Lee will probably outlast a lot of existing skipjacks. She’s one of the younger boats in the fleet, and her hull is made from pressure-treated lumber.

What’s the price tag, you ask? Well, there isn’t one. Pahl tells me the skipjack was assessed for tax purposes at nearly $ 1 million back in 2012. But, he says, Ocracoke Alive would probably take a lower offer. “I don’t really know what the market will bring,” he says.

What kind of buyer are the owners looking for? It could be an individual, a museum, or a city or town. But one thing is for sure: they’d really like Wilma Lee to return to her home on the Chesapeake.

Anyone who wants to inquire about the skipjack can contact [email protected] .

-Meg Walburn Viviano

Related Stories

Guide to At-Home Learning for Chesapeake Bay Kids

With a reliable internet connection, children now learning at home can stay connected to their

Bald Eagle Poisonings on Eastern Shore Under Investigation

At least seven bald eagles have died and other birds have been injured after ingesting

VIDEO: Bay Bridge Paddle Draws 400 Racers

It’s not an everyday sight on the Bay: hundreds of standup paddleboards and kayaks on

While many different ships roam the Bay’s waters, the most iconic is the skipjack, with its long lifting bowsprit, raked wooden mast and sweeping sheer lines. A reminder of the age of sail and symbolic of the Bay’s rich maritime history, it is the state boat of Maryland. First built in the 1890s for dredging oysters, they rose in popularity because they were cheap to build.

Watermen on the Eastern Shore who first built and sailed these ships gave them the early name of “two-sail bateau,” recalling a French connection to 17 th century Huguenot exiles in the region. In other parts of Maryland, they were called “skipjacks,” thought to be named after the fast-moving skipjack tuna.

For a century, fleets of these graceful boats could be seen hauling oysters all winter long, finally becoming the “last working sailing fleet” in the nation. With the decline of oysters in the latter half of the 20 th century, fewer and fewer of these old boats could be found. By the 1980s, there were only about two dozen skipjacks at work on the Chesapeake, all in Maryland. Today, there are only a handful still dredging for oysters.  Most of the skipjacks now sailing the Bay are used for education and tourist trips and tours to teach about the history of the region’s coastal communities.

Read Skipjacks for the 21 st  Century , an issue of  Chesapeake Quarterly, Maryland Sea Grant's magazine, about the interaction between oyster reefs and skipjacks  and the decline and recovery of both. 

For a broad overview of the life and work of Chesapeake Bay watermen, check out the Maryland Sea Grant-published book  Working the Chesapeake: Watermen on the Bay.  Author Mark Jacoby spent time aboard ships with watermen who harvest Bay species in a variety of ways through all four seasons, hearing firsthand about their lives spent on the water.

Maryland Sea Grant has produced a series of videos (below) about skipjacks, "Oystering on the Chesapeake Bay." The videos focus on the City of Crisfield , its captain, and the preservation work that saved the boat, allowing it to continue hauling oysters.

• “A Century of Skipjacks”: A short introduction to the history of skipjacks in the Chesapeake Bay.
• "The Art of Oystering":  Dredging oysters under sail with Captain Art Daniels Jr. of Deal Island, Maryland.
• "A Waterman and His Boat":  "As long as you don't get afraid and stick with the boat, she'll stand by you." (Art Daniels, Jr.)
• “The Boat Coming Alive”: A veteran oyster captain recalls his first sail on his father’s skipjack.
• “A Skipjack Goes Down”:  Captain Daniels tells of the day he found his skipjack,  City of Crisfield , drowned at a Cambridge, Maryland, harbor dock.
• “And Rises Again”:  Sail rigger Rich Schofield and boat builder Mike Vlahovich go to work rebuilding the  City of Crisfield.
• “A (Re)Launch Party”:   A look into the first success in an ambitious project to restore the last working sail fleet in the country.

Related Products

Working the Chesapeake: Watermen on the Bay

Jacoby, Mark E. with illustrations by Neil Harpe

Program Announcements

Knauss legislative fellowships in Congress help build careers — and they're fun and educational. See our video and fact sheet for details.

Maryland Sea Grant has program development funds for start-up efforts, graduate student research, or strategic support for emerging areas of research. Apply here .

News and Blogs

Applying New Skills for National Science Collaboration

A Place for Creativity in Science Writing

Maryland Sea Grant Funds Five New Research Projects

Video gallery.

Sea Grant Film Explores a Diminishing Smithville

Smithville is a community on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, on the edge of the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. A century ago, Smithville had more than 100 residents. Today, it has four, in two homes: an elderly couple, and one elderly woman and her son, who cares for her.

Featured Fellow

Leone yisrael, featured research project, exploring the use of benthic microbial fuel cells to remove sulfide while harvesting energy from oyster aquaculture biodeposits, the blue crab: callinectes sapidus.

An essential resource for researchers, students, and managers.  Get your copy today!

Chesapeake Quarterly Magazine

A Growing Industry: Advancing Oyster Aquaculture in Maryland

©2023 Maryland Sea Grant. All rights reserved.

5825 University Research Court, Suite 1350 | College Park, MD 20740 Phone: (301) 405-7500 | Fax: (301) 314-5780 | Contact Us

About Skipjacks

The dorchester skipjack committee.

The Dorchester Skipjack Committee owns, preserves and operates the skipjack Nathan of Dorchester so as to promote Cambridge and Dorchester County’s maritime heritage based on tourism, by offering educational on-the-water experiences on a historically maintained boat.

The Dorchester Skipjack Committee, an independent 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Our volunteers continue to own, operate and maintain the Nathan with the support and donations of people like you. to help us keep the Nathan of Dorchester sailing, please donate toward our cause.

Skipjack Origins

The “skipjack” is a unique type of commercial wooden sailing vessel, used for more than 100 years to dredge oysters from the Chesapeake Bay. Skipjacks are the last working sail fleet in the United States and are listed on the National Register of Historic Sites. The skipjack was named the state boat of Maryland in 1985. Launched in 1994, the Nathan of Dorchester is likely to be the last skipjack ever to be built as a sailing dredge boat.

The Skipjack style of working sail boat was developed in the late 1800s due to the popularity of Chesapeake Bay oysters. Better road, bridge and rail networks allowed for a greater market range for fresh oyster markets and New England harvests were shrinking.

In the mid-1800s, oysters were collected either by hand (tonging), or by using dredges on larger deep draft schooners, pungys and bugeyes. As oyster catches in deeper beds decreased, the need grew for a shallow-draft sailing vessel that could reach oysters found in shallower beds. This boat needed a low freeboard (deck close to the waterline) to ease hauling in the dredges, it needed to be easier and cheaper to build than the bigger boats and it needed a smaller crew to sail and dredge for oysters. The answer was the development of a larger-scale version of a small, single-mast boat with two sails being used by watermen at the time for dredging for blue crabs in the shallow grassy reaches of Bay tributaries. This boat became known first as the 2 sail bateaux then as its more popular name of the skipjack.

Whatever the origins, major boat builders on the middle and lower Eastern Shore of Maryland began to build these modified sloops noted for their sharp chine and shallow, dead-rise hull with centerboard.

The single raked mast was placed well forward and the sharp bow was extended with a bowsprit, allowing the boat to carry a large main sail giving enough power to haul the big oyster dredges in light winds. A self-tending jib, allowed crew to concentrate more on dredging than on sailing.

Builders and owners of these graceful, powerful sailing vessels named their boats after mothers, aunts, sisters, places or builders (but rarely for their wife) and decorated them with carved, brightly painted trailboards, bearing the boat’s name, and carried small carved figure heads under the bowsprits.

Skipjacks generally ranged from 30 to 60 feet on deck and could carry 100 to 500 bushels of oysters. The Nathan is a medium-sized skipjack, built to carry about 200 bushels.

With the development of the gasoline engine, the rowing dinghy typically hung on the davits at the stern was powered with a two- to four-cylinder engine. out with pushboat This enabled the skipjack to have a power source a pushboat or yawl boat) to move the boat to oyster beds in the event of light wind conditions.

From the advent of steam power appearing on the Bay in the 1830’s and the gasoline engine around 1900 and until the mid 1960’s, skipjacks and other dredge boats could only dredge under sail. Today the few remaining skipjacks that dredge for oysters dredge under power.

For more information on skipjacks and to learn how to make your own skipjack model, click on the links shown below.

LOD- 13'10" LOA (with rudder) -17' Beam- 64" Draught (rudder up, but with crew on board) 16" (rudder down, w/crew)-30" Finished displacement approximately 230lbs (Sailing version) Sail area: 117 Sq. Ft. (89 main, 28 jib) Crew: 2-3 when sailing, 4 when motoring (these are based on our ideas of comfortable lounging)

Click Here for more information.

Super Skipjack Rigging Details

Click Here to check it out!

Click Here to start exploring the photo galleries!

Copyright 2024 Stevenson Projects LLC

• Forum Listing
• Marketplace
• Advanced Search
• All Topics Sailing
• General Sailing Discussions
• SailNet is a forum community dedicated to Sailing enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about sailing, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, repairs, reviews, maintenance, and more!

Skipjack 14 foot Sailboat - Need Advice on How to Rig

• Add to quote

I have been given a 14 ft Skipjack Sailboat that I am hoping to get back on the water so my son and I can learn to sail together. The sailboat had been on the track to being restored when the previous owner passed away. When I got the boat it had been repainted, but the hardware was all in a box. The mainsail, jib, mast and boom are in fine condition, and I have figured out how to remount all the hardware..... what I do not know is how to replace and rig all the lines. I have scoured the internet and have only come up with a couple of pictures of one other Skipjack sailboat... and I was unable to get any close up pictures to see how the lines are run.... Does anybody out there know anybody with close up pictures of a Skipjacks rigging .... or how I can get a rigging diagram for it... The boats were made by the Newport Boat Company... But I cannot even locate that company anymore... My email address is [email protected] if anybody can help. Thanks.... Clark in Mount Plymouth, FL  

http://www.glen-l.com/free-book/rigging-small-sailboats.html Try this link to Glen L "rigging small boats" it's actually free. if the link is messed up just go to glenL.com good luck!  

The skipjack was manufactured by Cardinal Yachts. Harry R. Sindle: Address: 7519 Ware Neck Rd., Gloucester, VA 23061 Phone: 804-693-5928 There was a fleet at the Ware River Yacht Club, Gloucester, VA. Somebody there must remember how to rig them.  

For what it's worth, I too have a Skipjack. I picked it up early this summer to teach the grand kids to sail but didn't get finished patching and painting until after they went back home. It's ready for next summer though. Cardinal Yachts, by the way, is but half an hour from me. Also see Sherwood's "Field Guide to Sailboats," page 46.  

Older post but I currently have a project skip jack and am looking for info/photos on rigging and what not. Any help would be much appreciated! Bryan  

I was recently fortunate enough to be given my first sailboat. It is a Skipjack 15. I have done some research and discovered this forum in hopes that you might be able to assist with getting this boat back on the water. I have everything with the exception of the center board. Anyway, I was hoping that someone might be able to assist me in locating one or perhaps provide the dimensions on it. I am pretty sure that it is around 1/4" thick. Any photos that you could send or share would be appreciated. Thanks, Jeff  

jeffroyal said: I have everything with the exception of the center board. Anyway, I was hoping that someone might be able to assist me in locating one or perhaps provide the dimensions on it. I am pretty sure that it is around 1/4" thick. Any photos that you could send or share would be appreciated. Thanks, Jeff Click to expand...

The centerboard was indeed made of aluminum. I went to school with the guy that owned Skipjack #1. It was originally made by Mobjack Manufacturing near Gloucester VA, which was acquired by Newport Boats. I think the boat was originally to be named "Crackerjack" until patent protection probably forced the change. Anyway, there is one in our neighborhood, but I've never seen it launched, and never seen the owner. I was always impressed with these boats. Completely self bailing, contrasted to the 420 and FJ used by junior programs. Perhaps it was too much boat for juniors, but at one time I understand it was used at the Naval Academy. Full battened mail, which was unusual for a monohull.  

Well I finally made a centerboard for this boat out of 1/4" aluminum. I scaled the dimensions off of a drawing I found online. If anyone needs any direction or photos for rigging this boat, let me know. I had a hard time finding anyone with info so I will be glad to share. Sailed this boat twice and love it! Have a great 4th weekend! JEff  

jeffroyal said: Well I finally made a centerboard for this boat out of 1/4" aluminum. I scaled the dimensions off of a drawing I found online. If anyone needs any direction or photos for rigging this boat, let me know. ** snip } Click to expand...

Somewhere in the vaults of my boat literature I have a Mobjack Mfg. booklet w/ pictures and descriptions of all the boats they were building in the late 60s. They built at least nine different boats.  

And someday there might be a new owner who would jump for joy to see that on line... and/or a pdf  

• ?            
• 174.2K members

Top Contributors this Month

The Skipjacks

Current skipjacks by dredge numbers, granville hale's list of skipjacks 1883 to present.

The skipjacks included here have been divided into those that originally were built to be dredge boats (whether or not they still serve that purpose), full-size skipjacks that originally were built to be recreational vessels (whether or not they now may work as dredge boats), smaller or "baby" skipjacks originally built as pleasure craft and under about 30 feet on deck, and those boats that have been lost since the Project began. (Only skipjacks that have disappeared entirely since the Project began are listed as "lost." Wrecks with pieces still visible at their last known location are included in the other appropriate categories.)

Also included are some three-sail bateaux . While these generally are not considered skipjacks, some have been converted to skipjacks and there is enough overlap that we finally decided to include some listings of those we come across. We welcome any information on further boats that should be included on this list. Please see the Inclusion Criteria for how boats were selected and categorized.

Since some of the boats have changed names since the Project began, any previous names they have had since 2009 are noted. Former names from further back will be found in each skipjack's backgound description, once completed.

Please help keep this information up to date by submitting news or corrected facts about any of these boats and letting us know of skipjacks not yet included on this site.

• AI Generator

31 Skipjack Sailboat Stock Photos & High-Res Pictures

Browse 31 skipjack sailboat photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more photos and images..

• A Brief History Of Saint...

A Brief History of Saint Petersburg’s Scarlet Sails Festival

A romantic festival, created to celebrate youth and congratulate school graduates on the beginning of their adult life journey, is now considered to be one of the best festivals in the world, attracting thousands of people every year from Russia and abroad. We are speaking about the famous Scarlet Sails Festival, and here is the history behind it.

First started in June 1968, the concept of the festival is based on the fairy tale by Alexander Green, Scarlet Sails . The romantic spirit, celebrating love, dreams and hope, was there from the beginning and still remains as the basis of the festival. The first edition of Scarlet Sails was attended by around 25,000 school graduates and became a hit, which set a tradition to organize the festival every June, during white nights. However, in 1979, the celebration was suspended, and returned only in 2005.

Nowadays, the festival organization is divided into two parts: it starts with a big concert on Dvortsovaya Square, followed by the spectacular show on the Neva River. Although the entrance to Dvortsovaya is invitation-only for school graduates, there is usually another stage on Vasilievsky Island where all other guests can join the concert while waiting for the main part of the festival.

The light and water show usually starts after midnight and is held on Neva River between Dvortsovyi Bridge, Peter and Paul Fortress and the Hermitage . Spectators can watch the show from the banks of the Neva River and bridges.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BVzSNEkFiop/?taken-by=parusa5tv

The spectacular show lasts for about 20-30 minutes and involves an impressive range of elements: pyrotechnics, light, orchestra, water show and, of course, the culmination is the appearance of a beautiful ship under scarlet sails. All elements are synchronized with the music and with each other, so the crew of the ship is under a tremendous pressure to make sure the ship passes every milestone exactly on the precise second when it is planned to happen.

Nowadays, there are just a few ships that exist in the world that can manage the task of being a live symbol of Scarlet Sails Festival. From 2009, the ship under scarlet sails is the Swedish “Tre Kronor.” The sails are produced following traditional marine sail technology, the only difference being that the ones for the festival are a bit thinner than the real ones you would use to sail the sea.

Every year, Scarlet Sails attracts between 1.5 to 3 million guests to the center of St Petersburg, to see one of the best city events of the year. From being a local celebration, the festival transformed into an international event, being shortlisted in several nominations of “ Best European Event Award ” and becoming a winner in the “Best City Event” category.

If you are planning your trip to St Petersburg around 15-25 June, make sure to check when the Scarlet Sails is being held. In 2018, it will be held on June 23. Once at the festival, bring some warm clothes as it still gets quite chilly at night in June, and come to the Neva embarkment quite early if you want to find a good spot – it gets really crowded.

Since you are here, we would like to share our vision for the future of travel - and the direction Culture Trip is moving in.

Culture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful — and this is still in our DNA today. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special.

Increasingly we believe the world needs more meaningful, real-life connections between curious travellers keen to explore the world in a more responsible way. That is why we have intensively curated a collection of premium small-group trips as an invitation to meet and connect with new, like-minded people for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in three categories: Culture Trips, Rail Trips and Private Trips. Our Trips are suitable for both solo travelers, couples and friends who want to explore the world together.

Culture Trips are deeply immersive 5 to 16 days itineraries, that combine authentic local experiences, exciting activities and 4-5* accommodation to look forward to at the end of each day. Our Rail Trips are our most planet-friendly itineraries that invite you to take the scenic route, relax whilst getting under the skin of a destination. Our Private Trips are fully tailored itineraries, curated by our Travel Experts specifically for you, your friends or your family.

We know that many of you worry about the environmental impact of travel and are looking for ways of expanding horizons in ways that do minimal harm - and may even bring benefits. We are committed to go as far as possible in curating our trips with care for the planet. That is why all of our trips are flightless in destination, fully carbon offset - and we have ambitious plans to be net zero in the very near future.

Unusual Facts About the Soviet Union

Incredible Photos From the Longest Bike Race in the World

See & Do

Russia's most remote holiday destinations.

Restaurants

The best halal restaurants in kaliningrad.

Guides & Tips

A 48 hour guide to astrakhan, russia.

Food & Drink

The best halal restaurants in kazan.

The Soviet Union’s Best Heart-Throbs and Pinups

Russian Last Names and Their Meanings

A Guide to Cautionary Russian Proverbs and What They Mean

Zhenotdel: The Soviet Union's Feminist Movement

A Soviet Pilot Went Missing in Afghanistan and Was Found 30 Years Later

The Mystery Behind Russia's Buddhist "Miracle"

Culture trip spring sale, save up to $1,100 on our unique small-group trips limited spots..

• Post ID: 2095093
• Sponsored? No
• View Payload

In Photos: Scarlet Ships Sail Through St. Petersburg

More image galleries

In Photos: Ukraine's Mariupol After 2 Years of Russian Occupation

In Photos: Orenburg Flooding Peaks as 'Colossal' Waters Rise in Neighboring Regions

In Photos: 10 Years Ago, the War in Donbas Began

In Photos: 180K Muslims Celebrate End of Ramadan in Moscow

Forgot your password?

Enter the email address linked with your account and we'll send you a secure link to change your password.

Booking Advisor Form

Fill in the form below and you will soon receive suggestions with the ideal yachts for your trip.

Sleeping guests

Cruising guests

Your form has been submitted successfully!

A travel expert will contact you shortly to suggest the ideal yachts for your trip.

• Booking Advisor

Let a travel expert suggest the ideal yachts for your trip.

Enter the 4-digit confirmation code below:

Code hasn't arrived?

You can retry in .

The code you entered is incorrect. Please try again.

Your email address has not been confirmed yet. Please check your inbox and click on the link that has been sent to you.

• Help Center
• Terms of Service
• Privacy Policy
• Rent a Boat in Greece
• Deciding to list
• Add listing
• About Listing
• Sailing Distance Calculator