FREDA
The 32 foot gaff sloop Freda was built in 1885 in Belvedere by saloon keeper Harry Cookson. Freda is the oldest active sailing yacht on the west coast and has been celebrated for her simple elegance, and called both the Common Man’s Yacht, and the Matriarch of San Francisco Bay. She was owned by one of the early commodores of the Corinthian Yacht Club. Painstakingly restored in the 1950’s by Harold Sommer, captain of the last wooden tugboat on San Francisco Bay, Freda became a fixture in the local Master Mariner fleet regattas, but has since suffered from years of deterioration. She was recently acquired by the Spaulding Wooden Boat Center in Sausalito.
Originally built with rock elm frames, Douglas fir decks, black elm hanging knees, port orford cedar planks, and lignum vitae deadeyes, Freda embodies the creativity and self reliance of San Francisco Bay wooden boat builders. In addition to her historic importance, Freda is central to the restoration mission of the Spaulding Wooden Boat Center, which is dedicated to the restoration and preservation of important SF Bay wooden boats and communicating the skills and ideals that went into these boats. Freda is the inaugural Spaulding Center restoration project, and will become its flagship and a symbol of the rebirth of classic yachts on San Francisco Bay.
Read about Restoring Freda at the Spaulding Wooden Boat Center.
You can see photographs and videos about Freda in our Media Gallery.
