Ballerina was the name my father gave to the boat he built from Howard I. Chapelle's book, Boatbuilding. The following photos were from Lake Scugog, about 30 miles north of Oshawa, Ontario:
Chapelle called the design a 16' Hampton Flattie.
She had no jib. The main halyard went to a pulley on the foredeck and back to a belaying pin on the thwart at the aft end of the centreboard case. (Apparently, that's little me.)
There's one sister and at least one brother there. Apparently I wasn't aboard this time, and the shoulder in the bottom left is that of cousin Geoffrey. We were living in Uxbridge.
Ballerina is the boat I first learned to sail on, in Toronto Harbour. She felt solid, safe, comfortable. The tiller that dad made had a carved ball on the end which made it easy to hold. The steering was balanced and she responded to just a light touch on the tiller.
Because I had demonstrated that I could handle Ballerina solo, I was allowed to join the Junior Club at Q.C.Y.C. a year earlier than normal. I went on to win the skipper's trophy a number of times.
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