By Dave Hemenway
As the Northeast fleet captain of the Cape Dory Sailboat Owners Association (CDSOA), I conducted four regional meetings in Fall 2024 around the Northeast USA to determine what the members of our fleet wanted to do in the 2025 season. One major desire was to improve communication between Typhoon owners individually and between fleets. I discovered a great Typhoon-based newsletter edited by Noel Peattie of the California Typhoon Association called The Typhooner. Noel periodically produced The Typhooner from December 1994 through August 2001.
Adam Waywell’s Typhoon on Long Island Sound © Adam Waywell
I found his newsletters interesting and informative and decided to reestablish them and distribute them via email. The CDSOA Board has endorsed this effort. For the first year, the original Typhooner newsletters and the new quarterly Typhooner newsletters will be distributed to all CDSOA members and those who request one at no charge in addition to being available on the CDSOA website, capedorysoa.org. The response to the first Typhooner has been incredibly positive.
Quincy Payson (age 6) and father Jake enjoying a sail on Penobscot Bay © Robin Payson
A little research found that while there have been several Cape Dory associations since the founding of Cape Dory Yachts, there has never been a national Typhoon organization, which is surprising since about 2,200 of these 18.5-foot weekenders were built by three companies since 1962 when the first Typhoon was built by Naugus Fiberglass Industries in Massachusetts based on Carl Alberg’s original Typhoon plans that were made in 1960.
Ellen White’s boat in Florida
Recently, a group of us came together to form the Typhoon Class Association (TCA), a group of Typhoon enthusiasts and fleets with the goals of building a community of sailors who enjoy each other’s company, providing support for maintaining and promoting Typhoons, encouraging local Typhoon fleets and communication between fleets, and holding recreational and Corinthian racing events. The TCA Steering Committee is comprised of Typhoon sailors from around the East Coast and Lake Ontario and have asked me to coordinate this new sailing association.
Robin Payson takes the helm as Quincy goes off watch. © Jake Payson
The TCA goals for the 2025 season include: producing the quarterly online newsletter The Typhooner, having a series of on ground and online meetings for Typhoon enthusiasts to communicate individually and as fleets, developing a Typhoon registry of current owners, developing a 2025 schedule with at least four events including cruises and races, establishing the SOS (Save Our Sailboats) program so that more Typhoons are saved, restored and used, and establishing a Sailing Buddy program to facilitate Typhoon enthusiasts to sail together on their boats. This program is particularly important to older sailors who want to continue sailing without having the maintenance and expense of owning a Typhoon. In addition, there are many Typhoon sailors who would like to have a crew instead of sailing singlehanded as they often have because they could not find a crew. This is a Win, Win for all!
We found that there are three known Typhoon fleets: Rappahannock River Yacht Club (RRYC) on the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia, Henderson Harbor Yacht Club (HHYC) on Lake Ontario in New York, and Centerboard Yacht Club (CYC) in South Portland, Maine. While there are many Typhoons in Maine, they are not organized as fleets (at least that we know of) except for the CYC fleet on Casco Bay. Robin Payson of Bohndell Sails & Rigging in Rockport, Maine is currently recruiting Typhoon sailors in Penobscot Bay to start a Typhoon fleet. We are also developing a Typhoon fleet in the Fishers Island Sound area of southeastern Connecticut where there are several Typhoons. Dave Hemenway is coordinating this effort with his local area Typhoon sailing friends.
While Typhoons are popular throughout the country, there has been little communication between these fleets. We would like to identify these Typhoon fleets so they could join our fledging association which is part of the Cape Dory Sailboat Owner’s Association (CDSOA) which is supporting this new association. CDSOA has been in existence for over twenty years and is the national association for Cape Dory boat owners and others interested in full-keel traditional sailboats. CDSOA is supporting the Typhoon Class Association financially and by providing apace on their website.
John Lesage took this picture of his friend sailing his Typhoon on Long Island Sound. © John Lesage
One of the objectives of the TCA Steering Committee is locating where Typhoons are currently berthed and whether they are part of a local fleet. If you own a Typhoon and would like to be in the TCA Typhoon Registry, or know of a Typhoon or local fleet of Typhoons, or would like to part of this new Typhoon association, please communicate with Dave Hemenway via the CDSOA website (capedorysoa.org), via email at TyphoonClassAssociation@gmail.com or via Personal Messenger on the Cape Dory Typhoon Owners Group on Facebook. We look forward to hearing from you as we grow this new sailing association.■
Dave Hemenway lives in Eastern Connecticut and sails out of Boating on the Thames in New London. He’s been sailing and messing about in boats for his whole life and has recreationally sailed Finns on and off since the 1970s. His primary cruising boat is a Dickerson 36 yawl that he’s maintained and improved for 35 years. Since retiring from higher education, he has worked at Cappy’s Boat Shop where he reports to his dog, Cappy.
