Bruce King

[treilley]

We had cocktails and dinner with Bruce King and his family this weekend. It was very interesting speaking with him about his designs and his experiences with Ericson. We also sailed by his hand made boat "Frog Princess" in the Ericson regatta. It is a lovely wooden boat that I believe was inspired by his daughter that he designed and built over a 24 year period.

Martin, It was also nice meeting you this weekend. I would like to post a picture of "Frog Princess" but thought I should first get permission from your father. What do you think?

[Martin King]

Tim,
Nice meeting you as well. We had a great time racing with the Maine
Ericson owners. I don't know if its cool posting photos of the FP-we
did photograph the boat while we were there but I need to check
with the owner first.
Thanks,

Martin

[rbonilla]

nice.....Bruce has designed some great hulls...:nerd:

[noproblemo2]

I would LOVE tosee those photos!!!:)

[Steve]

Tim,
You must have asked Bruce a few questions about the 35-3.. any insight?

Thanks..
Steve
35-3 #159

[treilley]

He did not that I remember. We spoke mostly about Frog Princess and some of the more interesting models(yes, historically some are more interesting than the 35-3:rolleyes:). While being a very well spoken person he was not especially talkative. In hindsight I would love to know more about some of his custom designs. I think my wife may have chatted with him more than I did.

I could be wrong but I got the impression that his relationship with builders like Ericson is not unlike a musicians relationship with a record company. They take your art and manipulate it for marketing reasons. As we all know some of the Ericson models, while designed by Bruce King may have just been chopped version of larger designs.

[Martin King]

Thought the Ericson owners might be interested in a most unusual
design. Here is the Frog Princess, launched late last year. Designed
and built by my father for his personal use, her length was fixed at
21 feet-the largest hull that could be built in his 2 car garage. This
project was started over 20 years ago, and is now finally finished.
Despite the smallish size, this boat is a little jewel and hand crafted
to the highest possible standards. She is equipped with a single
cylinder inboard and cutter rig. Here's a couple of pics:

[sleather]

Thought the Ericson owners might be interested in a most unusual design.

That is one gorgeous craft! I can't imagine waiting 20 years for it to come to fruition, knowing what it would look like from the conception.

Never thought I'd be willing to trade "down".:egrin: I LOVE cutters!

THANKS, for sharing! Martin is there "any" chance of doing a Yachtworld type photo spread on her, I'm in serious need of some winter "drooling";).

[MarkA]

Wow. She's beautiful!

[rbonilla]

wow...jewel is right...nice...:egrin:



Thought the Ericson owners might be interested in a most unusual
design. Here is the Frog Princess, launched late last year. Designed
and built by my father for his personal use, her length was fixed at
21 feet-the largest hull that could be built in his 2 car garage. This
project was started over 20 years ago, and is now finally finished.
Despite the smallish size, this boat is a little jewel and hand crafted
to the highest possible standards. She is equipped with a single
cylinder inboard and cutter rig. Here's a couple of pics:

[kevin81]

What an absolutely beautiful boat!

On the "other" end of the size scale, Mr. King has designed some very large sailing vessels and a couple cool power boats. Go to link below, enter the site (button on bottom of page), and then to Portfolio and see some Bruce King beauties.
www.hodgdonyachts.com

Antonisia and Scheherazade were designed by Bruce King and built by Hodgdon Yachts in East Boothbay, Maine.

[Howard Keiper]

A few years ago, I was introduced to a boat named "Unicorn" docked at the Driscoll yard in San Diego. She was supposedly a Bruce King design too; and she, to my mind, was so breathtaking, I assume she was. Yes / No??

[treilley]

If this is the boat you saw then yes.

http://www.brucekingdesign.com/yachts.html

[Martin King]

You must not have seen this thread

http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoexchange/showthread.php?t=5671&referrerid=121

Martin

[Howard Keiper]

You're right, I didn't.
Sorry.

Howard Keiper
Sea Quest
Berkeley