Reinvigorating the Boothbay Harbor One-Design (BHOD) class of boats that he’d grown up sailing and racing was what inspired Ted Leonard to commission Eight Bells. He was a longtime BBY customer and had had both his leaking and traditionally-planked BHODs, Blue Witch and India, successfully reskinned by the yard using epoxy-coated veneers. For his brand new Eight Bells, however, he and Steve White decided on an entirely cold-molded hull, laid up over steam-bent frames, to give the boat both strength and a traditional-looking interior. Anticipating that more boats would follow Eight Bells, Ted also sponsored an elaborate building jig that could subsequently be shared among other builders.

Ted only lived to see Eight Bells launched and to sail her a few times before he suddenly passed away. He had already donated the jig to the BHOD Association, but, sadly, after being used for only one additional hull, the jig was destroyed in a fire and no more cold-molded BHODs were built from it. (The BHOD class thrives, however, sailing a mix of traditional and fiberglass boats.)

The Boothbay Harbor One-Design is a particularly handsome boat that has proven itself in the choppy waters off Boothbay Harbor, Maine. It’s an easy boat to sail, while being both maneuverable and fast, Eight Bells is built to Geerd Hendel’s original design, differing only in using the cold-molded, wood-epoxy method of hull construction that Brooklin Boat Yard is so well known for.