Owner’s Description
40 Winks is 36′ Custom Yawl designed by Bruce Kirby for a client who wanted to cruise the shallow waters of the Bahamas. She was custom built by Sea Island Boatworks in Isle of Palms, SC and there are great photos of her being built on their website (it’s a gift to be able to see how she was constructed step by step). Her construction is wood/glass composite- her hull strip planked in juniper over laid with mahogany veneer and then fiberglassed over on the exterior. Winks is shoal draft with her board up drawing only 3′-3″ (6’6″ with the board down). Her interior is finished with juniper trim and furniture with painted ceilings and overhead in the main cabin and head. The forepeak V-berth is left with her epoxy coated juniper planking showing. Winks has a bluff bow so she has a short bowsprit to get her forestay moved more forward and her spars are carbon fiber. Her suit of sails includes her main, mizzen and jib along with a spinnaker and fisherman staysail for the miz.
Back in 2015 an old friend, Kevin Cooke, asked me if I would be willing to help him deliver his new sailboat down from Rockport Maine to Cataumet Mass on the south side of Cape Cod. It was mid May and I was itching to get back out on the water so I readily agreed. He told me a bit about 40 Winks but I wasn’t prepared for how beautiful she is and I fell in love with her at first sight (see the photos!). We had an interesting run south. We had planned to stop in Tenants Harbor Maine after a short shakedown cruise but the wind and weather were great so we kept going. Then we were supposed to stop at Cape Ann but the wind decided we would be happier going to Provincetown. All good although the mid May temperatures off shore had us wearing every piece of clothing we had. We got to Ptown and it was so early in the season that there was no launch service to get to town so we stayed on board overnight and went straight to the canal in the morning. All in all my sailing that season started with a 2-12 day long non stop sail. It was a great run to start the season.
As the years went by Kevin and I sailed Winks from time to time including in two different Opera House Cup races off Nantucket (there are two photos included of the sporty weather we had during one of them). Sailing against all those beautiful wood sailboats was an awesome experience. It was especially fun to sail against Wink’s sister ship Phebe whose homeport is Nantucket. After one of the races I needed to get back to the Cape earlier than Kevin and we decided to sail over to Vineyard Haven so that I could grab the ferry from Martha’s Vineyard to Hyannis. The wind was brisk and current in our favor and we pushed Winks up to 11 knots- a true Nantucket sleigh ride.
Kevin called me at the end of this summer (2023) to say he was ready to sell Winks. I had told him years before if he ever wanted to sell Winks I would buy her and although it really wasn’t the best timing for me I knew I would spend the rest of my days regretting it if I let her go. I jumped at the chance to be the newest steward of this wonderful, beautiful boat. She will split her home ports between Parkers Boat Yard in Cataumet, MA and the Hull Yacht Club in Hull, MA which has been my homeport for decades. I am looking forward to exploring Buzzards Bay in the spring and fall and Boston Harbor during the summer. I am excited be be 40 Winks’ skipper for many years to come.
Photos
Map
No Records Found
Sorry, no records were found. Please adjust your search criteria and try again.
Google Map Not Loaded
Sorry, unable to load Google Maps API.
Comments
Post a Comment Cancel reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
6 thoughts on “36' Kirby Spirit of Tradition Yawl (2005) - 40 WINKS”
Owner’s Description
Photos
Map
Comments
Post a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.
6 thoughts on “36' Kirby Spirit of Tradition Yawl (2005) - 40 WINKS”
A beauty but you know that. I’m going to keep my eyes peeled for her when we’re back east this summer. Used to keep a boat on the Back River and race on Tuesdays with the South Shore Yacht Club. I’m glad I didn’t have 40 Winks as competition.
Thanks Jonathan. I’m half thinking about racing Winks in the Wednesday night PHRF races in Hingham Bay. If you’re in the neighborhood this summer you’re welcome aboard. And I love your boat. What a great design. How is she in a sea?
We lived in Charleston and the Savannah from the 1980s-2000s. I used to stop by SIB to see what they were building and saw Forty Winks under construction. https://www.seaislandboatworks.com/boats/36yawl1.htm Then years later I saw her in Rockport, Maine’s harbor. It was a nice surprise. Enjoy Buzzards and Massachusetts Bays and Nantucket Sound if you get back there again.
Thank you for your reply. I discovered SIB website when I was researching Winks’s history after I bought her and really enjoy the photos of her construction. I had emailed down to Mark a while ago to see if he had any more info on Winks (I would love to see her plans) but hadn’t heard back. I need to give him a call.
I’m looking forward to spending some time in Buzzards Bay this spring. I’ve passed through many times but never took the time to wander. Hull is my home port and I’ve spent a lot of my sailing life in Boston Harbor. I’m looking forward to expanding my horizons in Massachusetts Bay and down east with Winks. Fair Winds! Jim
I’ll add that when we lived in Charleston Mark Baynes of SIB was involved in planning and building ‘Spirit of South Carolina’ as noted on his website. One of the names considered for Spirit in the beginning was ‘The Heart of Dixie’… but was considered a bit too redolent of the Confederacy.
That’s a great story!