Gemini is a Yankee One Design classic wooden racing sailboat, designed in 1937 by William Starling Burgess, and built in 2010 by the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding. It has been maintained in excellent condition, and has never leaked, and never required repairs or restoration, just seasonal paint and varnish. 

The large cockpit will fit six people for daysailing, and there's room on the deck for more. It’s a competitive racer (with a crew of 2 to 4), handles superbly in heavy weather, and sails like a charm in light air too. 

Gemini can easily navigate in and our of marinas and locks, and motor through windless zones on the Sound, with a Torqeedo outboard and a 48 volt lithium battery system that is only a few years old. 

There’s a perfect mix of new and classic hardware: top of the line Harken for ease of use (e.g. windward sheeting traveller, self-tailing winches, genoa tracks and cars, and ratcheting mainsheet blocks), plus the classic bronze deck and spar hardware and lead keel from my previous Yankee, YOD 36 Venture.  It comes fully equipped with everything you need to sail: multiple sails, lines and rigging, fenders, life jackets, extra Torqeedo throttles, anchor, spinnaker pole, etc.

This classic wooden boat was built to last, with some thoughtful improvements over the original design. The deck covering is fiberglass instead of canvas, for longevity and ease of maintenance. There are laminated cockpit frames where there’s a sharp angle at the turn of the bilge, to prevent breakage that was so common in the older Yankees. The rest of the are steam-bent, and the stringers are riveted to the frames, for added stability. The result is a boat that sails with sublime grace and stability. I also added details I'd wished for in my old YOD: in the cabin, the cabinet top has a pull-out leaf that extends to chart-table size. In the cockpit, there’s a removable divider between the seats and the shelf that creates a comfortable sleeping surface and doubles the sleeping capacity by adding two berths in the cockpit.

I’ve been this boat’s only owner; I commissioned GEMINI to be built. We spent a full year sourcing the materials: silverballi planks on oak frames, purple heart butt blocks, teak sole and cockpit benches, mahogany cockpit coaming and trim. All fasteners are bronze. The NWSWB spent two years meticulously building the hull, mast, boom, and interior. I then hired experienced specialists to do the caulking, standing rigging, varnish, paint, and sails.

You can read all about the details of GEMINI’s excellent construction in the article “Building GEMINI (Y44) at the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding” in WoodenBoat Magazine issue 221, July/August 2011(p 57-59). The same issue has an article about the origins of the Yankee One Design class (p 52-56).

GEMINI has been hauled and packed on a trailer, and is being stored inside, out of the weather, at Associated Boat Transport in Marysville, WA, ready to be shipped anywhere in the country.