Sparkman & Stephens is a

naval architecture Naval architecture, or naval engineering, is an engineering discipline incorporating elements of mechanical, electrical, electronic, software and safety engineering as applied to the engineering design process, shipbuilding, maintenance, and o ...

and

yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

brokerage firm with offices in

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, ...

and

Ft. Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale () is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and largest city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth ...

, USA. The firm performs design and engineering of new and existing vessels for pleasure, commercial, and military use. Sparkman & Stephens also acts as a yacht and ship brokerage. The firm offers similar design and engineering services for the performance optimization of existing yachts. Their designs have won most of the major international yacht races such as the

America's Cup The America's Cup, informally known as the Auld Mug, is a trophy awarded in the sport of sailing. It is the oldest international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match races are held between two sailing yachts: one f ...

, for several decades, including a string of victories in the Fastnet and

Sydney to Hobart The Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race is an annual event hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, starting in Sydney, New South Wales, on Boxing Day and finishing in Hobart, Tasmania. The race distance is approximately . The race is run ...

as well as winning twice the

Whitbread Round the World Race The Ocean Race is a yacht race around the world, held every three or four years since 1973. Originally named the Whitbread Round the World Race after its initiating sponsor, British brewing company Whitbread, in 2001 it became the Volvo Ocean Rac ...

by '' Sayula II'' in 1974 and '' Flyer'' in 1978. S&S has a number of custom yacht design projects as well as being designers for boat builders such as

Nautor's Swan Oy Nautor AB is a Finnish producer of luxury sailing yachts, based in Jakobstad. It is known for its ''Nautor's Swan'' range of yachts models. The company was founded in 1966 by Pekka Koskenkylä. The designers Nautor has worked with four nav ...

, Grand Banks Yachts, and

Morris Yachts Morris may refer to: Places Australia *St Morris, South Australia, place in South Australia Canada * Morris Township, Ontario, now part of the municipality of Morris-Turnberry * Rural Municipality of Morris, Manitoba ** Morris, Manitob ...

. With more than 100 units built, the S&S design #1710 also known as

Swan 36 Swan 36 is a fin keeled, fiberglass constructed masthead sloop first manufactured by Nautor's Swan in 1967. The first Swan sailing yacht ever produced by the firm, it was designed to serve recreationally but also compete in the One Ton Cup. ...

became the most utilized design in the history of Sparkman & Stephens. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

the company was employed to design the hulls for the invaluable

DUKW The DUKW (colloquially known as Duck) is a six-wheel-drive amphibious modification of the -ton CCKW trucks used by the U.S. military during World War II and the Korean War. Designed by a partnership under military auspices of Sparkman & Step ...

'army duck' and the

Ford GPA The Ford GPA "Seep" (Government 'P' Amphibious, where 'P' stood for its 80-inch wheelbase), with supply catalog number G504, was an amphibious version of the World War II Ford GPW jeep. Design features of the much larger and successful DUKW amp ...

amphibious Amphibious means able to use either land or water. In particular it may refer to: Animals * Amphibian, a vertebrate animal of the class Amphibia (many of which live on land and breed in water) * Amphibious caterpillar * Amphibious fish, a fish ...

jeep. For this

Roderick Stephens Roderick Stephens, Jr. (August 7, 1909 – January 10, 1995) was one of America's best known and respected sailors. In 1933 he became Associate Designer, later promoted to President, of Sparkman & Stephens naval architecture and yacht design f ...

was awarded the

Medal of Freedom The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, along with the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by the president of the United States to recognize people who have made "an especially merito ...

, the United States' highest civilian award.

History

Sparkman & Stephens Inc was formally created on October 28, 1929, with five partners: Drake Sparkman and his younger brother James Sparkman, James Murray, and brothers Olin J. Stephens and

. The Stephens brothers began their careers as self-taught sailors on Barnstable Bay, Massachusetts. Both entered the marine industry at an early age – Olin apprenticing in yacht design under

Philip Rhodes Philip Leonard Rhodes (1895–1974) was an Americans, American naval architect known for his diverse yacht designs. Life Rhodes designed a wide variety of vessels from 7' dinghies to 123' motor-sailors, from hydrofoil racers to America's Cup win ...

, and Roderick learning shipbuilding at the prominent Nevins Yard in City Island, New York, which would later produce several of his firm's designs. With their father's backing, the 21-year-old Olin and his brother entered into a partnership with the already successful yacht broker Drake Sparkman, and Sparkman & Stephens, Inc. was formed. S&S remains involved in designs having created a range of production sailing yachts such as the Morris 36 and 52 and a number of custom super-sailers including ''Victoria of Strathern'' and the 52-meter ketch ''Nazenin V'', recently bestowed with multiple Superyacht of the Year Awards. In August 2018 Donald Tofias purchased S&S and is now the firm's President. The brokers at Sparkman & Stephens represent over 800 crewed charter yachts worldwide in both sail and power, from 55 to 200 + ft.

Designs

Lightning dinghy on Lake Wallenpaupack, Pennsylvania

Aura A35 The Aura A35 is an American sailboat that was designed by Sparkman & Stephens as a cruiser- racer and first built in 1975. The A35 is a version of Sparkman & Stephens's design 2166, as are the Hughes 35, North Star 1500 and the SHE 36. Pro ...

Cape Cod Mercury 15 The Cape Cod Mercury 15, also called the Mercury Sloop and just the Mercury, is an American trailerable sailboat and sailing dinghy, that was designed by Sparkman & Stephens and first built in 1940.Sherwood, Richard M.: ''A Field Guide to Sai ...

Catalina 38 The Catalina 38 is an American sailboat that was designed by Sparkman & Stephens as a racer- cruiser and first built in 1978.Sherwood, Richard M.: ''A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition'', pages 322-323. Houghton Miffli ...

* D&M 22 * Designers Choice * Dolphin 24 *

* Howmar 12 * Hughes 26 * Hughes 31 * Hughes 35 * Hughes 38-1 * Hughes 38-2 * Hughes 38-3 * Hughes 40 * Hughes 48 *

Interclub Dinghy The Interclub Dinghy is an American sailing dinghy that was designed by Sparkman & Stephens as a one-design racer and first built in 1946. It is sailed in frostbite racing on the US east coast, particularly on Long Island Sound. Frostbite ra ...

Lightning (dinghy) The Lightning is an American sailing dinghy that was designed by Olin Stephens of Sparkman & Stephens, as a one-design racer and first built in 1938.Sherwood, Richard M.: ''A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition'', pages ...

* Nautor Swan 47 * New Horizons 26 * North Star 38 * North Star 48 * North Star 80/20 * North Star 500 * North Star 600 * North Star 1000 * North Star 1500 *

Pilot 35 The Pilot 35 is an American sailboat that was designed by Sparkman & Stephens as a racer-cruiser and first built in 1962.Sherwood, Richard M.: ''A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition'', pages 286-287. Houghton Mifflin Com ...

* Sailmaster 22 * Seafarer 23 Kestrel * Seafarer 45 * Seafarer 46 * Seafarer 48 *

S&S 34 S&S 34 is a cruising and racing fibreglass monohull sailboat class. It was based on a design by Olin Stephens from Sparkman and Stephens after a commission from British yachtsman Michael Winfield. The design features a skeg-hung rudder and a ...

Shields (keelboat) The Shields, also called the Shields 30 and the Shields One-Design, is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Olin Stephens of Sparkman & Stephens as a one design racer and first built in 1962.Sherwood, Richard M.: ''A Field G ...

* Stevens 47 * Tartan 27 * Tartan 34 C *

Tartan 34-2 The Tartan 34-2 is an American sailboat, that was designed by Sparkman & Stephens and first built in 1984. The Tartan 34-2 is a development of the 1979 Sparkman & Stephens-designed Tartan 33 R, with the stern extended and a different interio ...

* Tartan Ten * Tartan 41 *

Weekender 24 The Weekender 24 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Sparkman & Stephens as a cruiser and first built in 1965. It was Sparkman & Stephens design number 1701-C1.Henkel, Steve: ''The Sailor's Book of Small Cruising Sailboats ...

* Yankee 38

References

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External links

Official websiteS&S Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sparkman and Stephens Sparkman & Stephens

History

Designs

See also

References

External links