Sonny III 2018
Sonny III
Having enjoyed working with BBY previously on two smaller sloops of the same name, this owner chose to return for another enjoyable collaboration. Well into his 90’s, the push was to finish while he could still enjoy sailing his big new sloop. Having limited mobility, the owner requested chair lifts at each companionway, a power reclining chair in the master stateroom, a side-boarding ladder, and a transom-boarding platform. After only 18 months, this lovely double cockpit, two-headsail, flush deck sloop name Sonny III was christened-in May of 2018.
With a flush deck and an aggressively raked bow, Sonny III is designed with performance in mind. One of her two cockpits is for guests and the other for those doing the sailing.
"I consider Sonny III a great accomplishment," said designer Bruce Johnson. "I would expect a design process of six months for a yacht of this size and complexity before the yard could even begin to cut wood. Due to the aggressive build schedule, we began construction six weeks after we started working with the owner. This project could not have been possible without Brooklin Boat Yard's in-house designers who were invaluable, producing exceptional construction drawings."
On deck, Sonny III’s two headsails roll up and unroll with hydraulic curlers built by Harken. Dividing the fore triangle for two headsails instead of a single large one, and having the shrouds outboard at the deck edge, greatly reduces loads and allows for a smaller mast section along with smaller winches and hardware. The mast and hydraulic, mainsail-furling boom are by Offshore Spars, and the sails themselves are 3Di by North Sails.
Below deck, Sonny III has two guest staterooms in addition to the owner's master stateroom. An elliptical dining area with matching table adorns the main saloon. The interior is finished in Herreshoff style with low-sheen white and cream paint contrasting with the American cherry joinery, leather, teak, and maple.
Due to the unusually tight schedule, portions of the hull and deck were subcontracted to our friends at the Rockport Marine, located in mid-Maine, and the entire deck was trucked, rather spectacularly, to Brooklin.