The Cocktail Class Wooden Boat Racing Association (CCWBRA) was founded by the Bluefeld family in 2010 on the banks of the Corrotoman River in Virginia. The idea behind this organization came about a few years earlier when Gretchen Granbery (formally Bluefeld), her husband Kim, and her brother Curt were sitting on their father’s deck one evening and were disturbed by jet-ski riders on the river below. Curt and Kim began chatting about how “lame” jetskis were and how some sort of utility racing boat would be so much better; it would have more seamanship.
After doing some initial research, Kim and Curt came across a design for an eight foot plywood skua, designed by Charles Macgregor, and originally featured in Rudder Magazine in 1939. After procuring the design plans from the Mystic Seaport Library in Connecticut, the four Bluefeld children decided to build four boats over the course of that winter. Once the boats were built, the Bluefelds held their first race, the “Founders Cup,” in 2008 to celebrate their father’s, Curt Bluefeld Sr., 85th birthday. The Race Circular was dedicated to him, with a thank you for “instilling in us a love of boats and the art of making a proper cocktail.”
Prior to the race, participants had to name their boat after their favorite post-race cocktail. But with several family members ready to compete and only four boats, they had to be creative with the naming system. The solution? Signboards were attached to the side hull of each boat with Velcro so that each family member could choose his or her own boat name.
Gretchen chose the name French 75, with her husband choosing Rebel Yell. Curt Jr.’s boat was named Rum Runner, and his wife Nancy chose Oyster Shooter. One of Curt Sr.’s granddaughters was too young to drink so the rule was she had to choose a non-alcoholic beverage. She picked Shirley Temple.
Twelve family members in four boats competed in that first race, with Kim Granbery taking home the win. Gretchen was able to podium after getting out ahead of the competition in time to moon her sister in law and niece. But Kim was the big winner that day, so in celebration it was Rebel Yell cocktails all around (for those old enough to partake).
The next year, the Bluefelds attended the Wooden Boat Show at Mystic Seaport and participated in the “I Built it Myself” showcase. Using family boats, they coordinated a race between the Wooden Boat personnel and the Mystic Seaport personnel. They continued to run those races for three years and returned in 2014 to celebrate the five-year anniversary.
After those first successful events, word began to spread of these “silly little boats,” and Wooden Boat Magazine published a story on the Bluefelds in 2010. After the article was published, Gretchen remembers being inundated with inquiries. “It struck a chord with a larger audience of like-minded fun people.” Everyone wanted to know how they could get involved and how they could build a boat themselves. So Kim and Curt Jr. wrote a manual and drew up plans for a skua racer with modifications for a stitch-and-glue design. CCWRBA was then created as a non-profit organization, and the plans were sold for $25.
By 2011, there were over 60 members and the first official race was held in Rock Hall, MD. The event was designated “The Nationals,” because as Gretchen puts it, “they were still in their theatrical mode.” Looking back she remembers those early days with fondness. “We did everything; we were the race committee; we put out lobster pots for buoys; everything. It was fun!”
Lee Urbani, a current member and commodore of Rock Hall YC, sponsored the fleet that year. Not long after, Russ Bowler, now on the Board of Directors, first heard about the boats at an event for Farr Yacht Design in Annapolis. He reached out to Gretchen and eventually met her in Annapolis, along with Keith Carew. At the time there was no kit to build one of these boats, just a kit for a jig to set up the frames. Carew felt they could speed up the building process by having pre-cut plywood panels. Hundreds of hours later he had designed a kit, and Chesapeake Light Craft (CLC) in Annapolis agreed to cut it for him. That kit became Carew’s #41 Dram.
After that initial success, John Harris of CLC made some improvements to Carew’s design, and an agreement was struck with CCWBRA. CLC was granted exclusive rights to produce Cocktail Class kits under the CCWBRA name, giving the organization even more exposure. Harris’s initial design improvements led to Russ Bowler’s Flying Kiwi and Jim Schmicker’s River Madness. The next iteration of his refinements based on those boats led to the kit which can now be purchased from CLC.
Today the CCWBRA membership is about 150 strong, with more and more boats being built each year. But the Bluefeld family continues to be at the heart of the organization, along with dedicated members who have fallen in love with the sport. What started as a family affair, full of friendly competition, continues to be so. And the rule remains that no cocktails shall be consumed until after racing has finished. For more info on the CCWBRA, click here.