Before this point, Dad had designed two yachts that had ever been built. One of them being the Midshipman, which was a 23 foot plywood day sailor, one was built, and I have never seen drawings or pictures of it. The other had some success, an 8 ½’ dinghy named Water Rat that G.H.C. and Peter Davidson had built in a small rented shop on Front St. E. in Toronto. They would set up a booth at the Sportsmen’s Show in Toronto and after a couple of years had orders for around 80 of them. I believe the Water Rat was the first production Fiberglass sailboat built in Canada. Being the natural progression from dabbling in fiberglass to build crash helmets and lampshades.

     And now Dad had been asked to build an Ocean Going Yacht Racer for Norm Walsh …. 

     There currently sits one Water Rat, under cover in my garage. My 8 yr old son Samuel has claimed as his. On which he will learn…