Pilot Schooner 28               

This design series is based on the classic American schooners which were largely responsible for the freedom and independence of the United States today.  During the American Revolution and the wars that followed into the mid-nineteenth century, a distinctive vessel-type evolved that essentially out-performed the vessels of every nation on Earth.  These were the blockade runners, privateers, revenue cutters, slavers, men-of-war, and pilot schooners that evolved primarily out of the Chesapeake Bay, and came to be known as Baltimore Clippers.  They were fast, low of freeboard, fine-ended, high and slack-bilged, and carried veritable clouds of sail.  When they were captured, they were taken to Europe where their lines were taken off and studied, in hopes to copy and reproduce their speed and weatherliness.

A large portion of my life has been devoted to the study of these phenomenal craft, and I present them nearly two centuries after their heyday to the cruising yachtsmen of our day with emotions of love, pride, and admiration that I cannot suppress. As far as I am concerned, little in the evolution of naval architecture has diminished the phenomenal value of the Baltimore Clipper as a high-performance sailing machine.  And nothing has ever happened in human history that can eclipse the beauty, class, and tradition of these schooners.

Of the PILOT SCHOONER SERIES, the PILOT SCHOONER 45 is an adaption of a single specific hull (Isaac Webb's 1833 schooner-yacht DREAM).  These and the other lines were drawn taking into consideration the long evolution of hull design that has followed the early nineteenth century; often this has involved little more than shifting the center of buoyancy further aft and rebalancing the prismatic halves.  I confess to a total love of this hull ever since finding the lines of the original in Chapelle's YACHT DESIGNING AND PLANNING.  I researched the rig by studying many period pilot schooners.  I think this design represents as incredible a yacht as could be had in any age -- she is large, comfortable, seaworthy, and of moderate draft for her size.  Her rig is nothing less than outrageous, yet incredibly simple to handle -- the Chesapeake Bay pilot schooners were sailed home single-handed from the offshore Atlantic in all weather after discharging their pilots. They had to be simple and practical -- but they also had to be fast and weatherly to compete in their trade.

The PILOT SCHOONER 37 is a more original design, containing the same elements. I gave her an elliptical very raking transom -- an American fisherman stern -- because it is easier to build and suits the smaller hull well.  I feel this design represents an ultimate moderate-sized world cruiser, and certainly she will be a beautiful sight in any harbor in the world!  The free-standing gaff rig is utterly simple, versatile and economical to build.

The PILOT SCHOONER 60 is based on an 1815 vessel whose lines were taken off by the French Naval Constructor Marestier.  I greatly modified the shoal-bodied hull, modernizing it, and adding a centerboard.  I adapted the rig with very little alteration.  This craft is intended to be a high-performance world cruiser, and I built the prototype for myself in 1993/4.

In essence, I have tried to combine the best of all worlds in my designs, integrating modern marine architecture and construction technology with the highly refined wisdom, experience, survivalism and sheer beauty of the traditional vessels I have used as my models. The PILOT SCHOONER SERIES represents Parker Marine's serious all-weather all-ocean world cruisers.  These craft also make ideal charter boats, and can be USCG inspected and certified to carry 49 passengers. And now there is a PILOT SCHOONER 28'-- Swansea Pilot pocket cruiser! We built three of these, with their owners, before we closed down the Parker Marine yard in Key West. They are all off sailing, one having sailed to Maine, one to Central America and back, and the third to Jamaica and back—soon to cross the Atlantic to England.