Inland Cat

When I (Giovannina) graduated from College my father gave me one of his prized Inland Cats (a sailboat designed by Norm Bell and John Larimore in the mid-1950s).  There were only about 300 of these boats made in Indiana and mine is #205.  My dad was a collector of Inland cats and a friend of Mr. Federspiel  who worked with Norm and John to cast the old Ricky Dingy model and create the first molds for the Inland Cat hull. Mr Federspiel lived across the street from us at our summer cottage on Clear Lake, Indiana where I learned to sail on my grandfather's boat, #154.


There are not many Inland Cats left but the largest concentration (about 20) are found at lake George, about 15 minutes from our cottage and where Norm Bell lives and produced the boats. Lake George holds an annual Inland Cat regatta which draws about 50 boats from the area and which my father and I have raced in a few times. Anyway, after graduating college I towed my boat out to Seattle years ago and have loved sailing it on Puget Sound and in the many lakes around the area.  Maybe one day I will tow it back to the annual Lake George Regatta.

Sadly about three years ago the trailer on the my boat broke and so it sat in my backyard growing algae on the deck and grass in the cracks. As I remodeled the house - and started dating Woody - I didn't have time to spend on it. But last year my dad, my sister and her husband all worked together to fix the trailer and scrub down the boat for our wedding.  It was one of the best presents we got and although we didn't get it up to Orcas Island or even get it in the water before we left on sabbatical, we kept thinking of it and finally got it out on the water. We had a spectacular sunny (and windy) day sailing on Lake Washington and testing out our rusty sailing skills on #205.