Beetle Catboat, c. 1920

Class A Scratch-built Model Scale 1:24 12.75” Long, 8.75” Wide, 15” High

The hull is carved from a single piece of basswood. All the applied details, along with the spars, are white holly or boxwood. Rigging fiber is linen and nichrome wire, and brass for the hardware. The model is in a case made from cherry moldings with an interior of painted MDF. The nameplate is a piece of old piano key. The dust cover is brass bound glass.

$2,900

Even if you’ve never sailed a Beetle Cat, one good look will explain why people have such great affection for the little boats. Sturdy, stable, graceful, with a lively sheer, they are the perfect boat for knocking about Nantucket harbor, or anywhere else, for that matter. Originally built by the Beetle Boat Shop of Fairhaven, then Dartmouth and now in Wareham, Massachusetts, they are still made today, pretty much as they were in 1921. The present day shop still has some of the original molds built by John and Charles Beetle. Large fleets of the catboats dot the New England coast. Perhaps, the most famous one is on Nantucket. Known as the “Rainbow Fleet” because each boat has a distinctive, brightly colored sail, they can be seen competing on the waters of Nantucket Harbor almost any Saturday during the summer. There are no measured, “ship’s plans” for the boat. This model was built using the patent office scale drawing and was heavily supplemented by measurements and drawings I made from my own Beetle Cat.