Third Friday Speaker: Ben Kahn - Kitten Project
This event is no longer on sale.
Boatbuilder and teacher, Ben Kahn presents the process and lessons learned building a 1920 Kitten boat over Zoom with CWB students Gary Brewer and Scott Foster.
The Kitten was designed in 1920 by John Winslow of the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club. A 15-foot wooden sailboat, the Kitten was designed to teach young women how to sail, and a detailed article on how to build the small craft was published in Pacific Motor Boat Magazine that year. Two years later, Winslow relocated to Seattle, bringing along a small fleet of Kittens to the Seattle Yacht Club. He made fast friends with local sailors, and with the help of famed Seattle boat designers and builders Ted Geary and Norm Blanchard, he modified the design of the Kitten. A fleet of these boats were built and used to teach Seattle’s young sailors. The new design made the Kitten the first self-rescuing dinghy on Puget Sound. This small vessel made a significant mark on King County’s maritime history and heritage, yet there were no known seaworthy wooden Kittens still in existence.
CWB is pleased to share the launch of this new, traditionally-built Kitten boat - a significant addition to our historic fleet. This project is supported, in part, by 4Culture/King County Lodging Tax.