21' Hodgdon Great Lakes 21 Sloop (1939) - DELILAH

Delilah, a 1939 wooden sloop is a 5th generation family legacy and the first boat in the Great Lakes 21 (GL-21) class, which started at the Mentor Harbor Yacht Club near Cleveland, Ohio. Her unique lines were designed by Charles Hodgdon, one of the three legendary Hodgdon Brothers of East Boothbay, Maine (now Hodgdon Yachts), who is my grandfather and namesake. Delilah’s journey began in the small coastal town of East Boothbay, Maine but her sleek lines and well known builders craftsmanship brought her to Cleveland and back again in a 70-year circumnavigation.

Anchoring the GL-21 class, Delilah is originally owned by Hal Kneen who raced her from the Mentor Harbor Yachting Club near Cleveland, Ohio. Kneen first discovered Hodgdon sloops while vacationing in Christmas Cove (South Bristol, Maine) in 1935. He admired their sleek and timeless lines so much he bought several and had them shipped to Ohio for himself and his friends to sail and race. Observing the Hodgdon sloops outperform several Star class sloops under certain racing conditions on Lake Erie motivated Kneen to come back to Maine for more boats. During one of these visits in the late 1930’s, Kneen learned Charles Hodgdon had recently drawn a new 21-foot sloop design so Kneen eagerly ordered one of these new boats which he named Delilah. Soon additional orders followed.

As the GL-21 class grew in popularity and expanded into multiple fleets throughout the Midwest, Douglass & McLeod of Ohio began building them out of molded plywood. To broaden its appeal after World War II, the class promoted itself as the International 21 or I-21 class. Delilah was later passed down to one of Kneen’s nephews, and then to Maynard Bray, the well-known yacht historian. While researching the boat’s history in 2006, with Alden Reed, a nautical historian, we discovered that one of the founders of the GL-21 class was David W. Swetland winner of the 1941 Mentor Harbor Yachting Club championship regatta, who became president of the Boothbay Harbor One Design Association, and had a Boothbay Harbor One Design built by David Nutt for his 90th birthday to himself.

Delilah’s restoration work was handily done by Paul and Nat Bryant of the Riverside Boat Company in Newcastle, Maine. Despite being on the hard for at least 12 years, Delilah kept her shape. A steam box was built for bending the 19-foot keelson, unique to the GL-21 design. Molds were built for each set of steam-bent ribs and floor frames and bolted to the keelson consistent with the Herrishoff method. The stem, rub rail and coaming were replaced with mahogony. With the exception of the garboards and the next two sets of planks amidships, the remaining cedar planks are original with cotton in the seams, and fastened with silicon bronze screws. I assisted with the deconstruction, reefing, caulking, puttying, fairing, sanding, varnishing the transom, tiller, original mahogany floor, and painting the hull and aluminum mast. My daughter Dee, an artist, freehanded the name Delilah in gold leaf letters with gloss black detail on the transom. The deck received a new Dynel cover, which is painted a handsome Grand Banks Beige. The spruce boom is original and an “H” stamped on the gooseneck fitting. The hull is painted white with a red bottom accented by a Navy blue boot top. Varnished mahogany coamings, rub rails, center floorboard, and transom set off the beautiful hull which is a joy to look at and catches many a skippers attention under sail and drifting on her mooring ball. Immediately after restoration in 2009, Delilah was tied up at Hodgdon Yachts for the 2009 Boat Builders Festival in East Boothbay for her 70th birthday. For Delilah’s 80th birthday (2019), Nat Wilson Sailmakers in East Boothbay made beautiful white Dacron sails following the original Great Lakes 21 sail plans.

A lasting legacy which began in 1939, continued in the late 1950’s when, Sonny Hodgdon updated his uncle Charles’ design and came out with the Hodgdon Brothers 21 (HB-21) class sloop. In the early 1970’s, the design was modified for fiberglass construction and renamed the Christmas Cove 21 (CC-21). Today, the CC-21 class is one of the most active and regularly raced of all the Boothbay region’s classic one-design classes with a long and exciting season lasting from June into September. They are a delight to sail, easy to maintain due to fiberglass construction, and fast!

I am grateful for Maynard Bray who rescued her, Alden Reed for his contributions to this and other articles, and for the Bryant’s at Riverside Boat for their craftsmanship and attention to detail. Delilah is a joy to sail single-handed,, with friends, my daughter, and soon with my grandson – the 5th generation!

Videos, and early photos of Delilah and the GL-21/I-21 fleet on Lake Eric can be accessed on my Instagram page.

For a more detailed article of small wooden sloops that were built at Hodgdon Brothers between 1930 through 1960’s, it is accessed as an attachment to an article written by Maynard Bray entitled: “Preview: Short Ends; Long Waterlines”, which is introduced by Alden Reed, and may be accessed at the following link: https://www.offcenterharbor.com/2020/04/20/short-ends-long-waterlines/