DANA POINT : Celebration Is Today for 80-Year-Old Boat

An 80th-birthday celebration will be held today at the Dana Point Yacht Club for a 44-foot racing sloop named Virginia and owned by the Nautical Heritage Society of Dana Point.

Virginia’s skipper, Daniel Heagney, a marine surveyor based in Dana Point Harbor, will conduct the afternoon celebration at the club along with Steve Christman, the founder and director of the Nautical Heritage Society.

Heagney not only teaches sailing classes for the society aboard Virginia but continues to race the sloop, the oldest boat in the harbor.

Virginia not only races but competes on the highest levels, Heagney said. Virginia’s vintage design, crafted by renowned boat designer William Gardner and built by the Wood & McClure shipyard on City Island, N.Y., back in 1913, can still perform.

Most recently, Virginia competed in two large Southern California racing events and did well against large fleets of yachts.

On July 24, Virginia took first place in her class in the Seal Beach-to-Dana Point race, third overall; and on July 31, Virginia took third place in the Newport Beach-to-San Diego race, first in the Ancient Mariner class.

Unlike modern boats, Virginia is all wood, including oak frames and mahogany planks.

Virginia is much heavier and slices through the seas rather than floating on the top, Heagney said.

“Virginia is very different than a modern boat,” said Heagney, 48. “It is not like sailing a modern boat. If the sails are trimmed right, the boat will really sail itself.”

In 1990, a completely restored Virginia was named to the National Registry of Historic Vessels, an elite group of boats longer than 40 feet.

“We are the only boat on the registry competing today,” Heagney said. “The other boats are either tied up at docks or on display like museum pieces.”