Apologies for the decades it took bring this info to your attention. But here goes. Myself and partner Rich Hedlund owned hull #26 from the spring of 1977 to the fall of 1980. We sailed for four seasons on Lake Michigan after purchasing the boat from Pitt W. Arnold ( no, not Arnold Pitt as the owners list currently shows ). Arnold had recently had the boat trucked from Chesapeake Bay where he had sailed for years, to northern Illinois where he had recently moved. We sailed the boat out of a marina on the Illinois Wisconsin border for a demo and bought it on the spot. We made a few upgrades over the years; new non skid deck surface, new teak cockpit steps hand made by my cabinet maker father in law, new instruments, an auto pilot for the tiller and who knows what else.
The first afternoon on our own, the lower unit of the outboard froze up just as we were ready to drop the sails and enter the channel. After some reconnoitering, we sailed up the channel ( about 50 yards ) hooked a hard 90 to starboard, and parked at the pier like we had been doing this all of our lives. We considered ourselves to be actual sailors after that. Turned out the lower unit was full of water. We had great times sailing the Vol Au Vent. We hope the subsequent owners had as much fun.
Sold the boat to William Dovey who intended to use it as a party boat on Lake Peoria. To make the deal we drove the boat down the Illinois Waterway for a day and a half to deliver it.
That’s enough for now, I hope this was a worthwhile addition to your site.
Nick Nelson, Waynesville NC
