The Rudder Treasury - by Tom Davin (Paperback)

About the Book

The Rudder Treasury" features writing from.."the greatest American yachting and boating magazine ever published..." Peter H. Spectre, from his Foreword

Book Synopsis

Featuring contributions from some of the most famous and diverse figures in the history of yachting and sailing, from Thomas Fleming Day and C. Andrade Jr. to John Alden and L. Francis Herreshoff, The Rudder Treasury is a timeless record of decades' worth of accumulated experience.

This volume encompasses some of the best articles ever to appear in the legendary Rudder magazine, the premier nautical publication from the first half of the twentieth century. It contains a treasure trove of influential writings on a varied and exhaustive array of topics. The four sections contain WInter Reading (all sorts of cruising adventures), The Dream Ships (plans and descriptions of various boats by well-known designers), the Care and Feeding of Yachtsmen, and The Hurrah's Nest, a bilgeful of dogmatic advice, arbitrary opinions, and clever devices and methods. This anthology is an invaluable resource, representing a wealth of wisdom unavailable for the past fifty years.

Review Quotes

...a treasure of good writing, good humor and good advice...-- "Points East"

...quite simply the most engaging fall-cruising reading any skipper could stow in his ship's library.-- "Cruising World"

..as genuine and invigorating as a lung full of fresh, salt air.-- "Sailing"

From its launch in 1891 to the middle of the twentieth century, The Rudder was the greatest American yachting and boating magazine, says Peter H. Spectre in his Foreword; high praise from an editor who, to me, personifies the best of current American boating magazines. What made The Rudder so special?...It was edited for years by Thomas Fleming Day...He treated his readers as intelligent human beings... recognized yacht design as an evolution, with a connected past, present and future... of the school that the doing was more important than the having. All of these trace elements and more are present in the selected material which Tom Davin has divided into Winter Reading, mainly cruising yarns; Dream Ships, boats described by the leading designers of their day; the Care and Feeding of Yachtsmen, including recipes for Lobsters and Gin, Whelk Stew-Soup and Conch Salad; and The Hurrah's Nest, a bilgeful of dogmatic advice, arbitrary opinions, and clever devices and methods.

My only real reservation about recommending this anthology without reservation is that I fear it will spoil you for modern boating magazines, including mine.-- "WaterCraft"