Sad news. Robert was a vast archive of knowledge and experience in seemingly all things sailing related. I borrowed the text below from this website (
http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Fo...e/ssfree.html), which I think shows his classy, understated style:
The website, devoted to SeaSprite sailboats, says:
"In 1974, Robert Gainer, then 21 years of age, sailed a 22' Sea Sprite from Wickford, Rhode Island to Falmouth, England in 60 days. Robert made his voyage solo and without the benefit of self steering gear."
In response to which Robert apparently submitted the following comment:
"Date: Mon, 4 Jun 2001 18:22:10 -0400:
"I thought that your page on the Sea Sprite was very nice. I grew up in East Greenwich R.I. and knew of the Sea Sprite built by American Boat Building Co. at Norton shipyard in Greenwich bay. I think that a strip planked plug was built in East Greenwich and the first mold was made from that. After the mold was made the plug was finished off as a boat and was sailed for many years. Sailstar got the molds from American Boat Building Co. My first Sea Sprite was built by Sailstar. Then Wickford Shipyard picked up the boat. C.E. Ryder got the molds from Wickford Shipyard. When my second Sea Sprite was built, for my first trans Atlantic trip the molds were sent to Ryder from Wickford Shipyard. All of the fiberglass work was done by Clark Ryder. Then the hull and deck were sent back to Wickford for the woodworking. I built the mast and
rigging myself at
Rig Right in East Greenwich. After my trip Clark Ryder made new molds and started making the Sea Sprites.
All the best;
Robert Gainer"
Robert, I wish you "all the best". You'll be missed here on SailNet.
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