33' S&S Pilot Sloop (1946) - ALBACORE

The Pilot was Sparkman and Stephens first postwar (WW II) auxiliary. Albacore is the third of ten Pilots built by Fisher Boat Works in Detroit, a yard known for their wooden minesweepers built for the Navy during WW II.

My father purchased Albacore in the fall of 1958 and she has been in the Marsh family ever since. He was Albacore’s 3rd owner, having purchased her from one of the original owners.

She is very actively raced in the Detroit area and has sailed in all but 2 of the Bayview Port Huron to Mackinac races since her first in 1946. The only modification to Albacore has been the addition of a taller mast to better match the light air conditions in the Great Lakes.

Albacore is also a wonderful family cruising boat and has spent many summers in Northern Lake Huron with family and friends. She is the last of the original 10 Fisher Pilots still in Detroit (four more are still actively being sailed in the Great Lakes and in New England, and is admired where ever she goes.

Albacore is fortunate to now have both the 3rd and 4th generation of Marshes at her helm.