26' Gil Smith Catboat (2021) - WHIRLWIND II

Whirlwind II is born from the lines of Gil Smith’s personal boat Mariam, named after his wife and launched in 1897 to beat all his previously dominant designs.

Mariam’s dusty, hand-carved half-model, historic drawings, photographs and the perceived design and build ethos of a man who passed away almost 100 years ago were used to re-create this masterpiece. And now with computer modeling, modern systems and construction techniques, Whirlwind II has the same structural frame Gil Smith used at the turn-of-the-century but with a laminated wood skin.

This is not just building a traditional cat boat for pleasure sailing in his home waters of Narragansett Bay, RI. Yarrow and a team of designers, shipwrights, craftspeople, historians and artists are pushing the limits of design and tradition while sharing the process of creating a one-of-a-kind, useful sailboat.