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Issue No. 310
May / June 2026
THORA and INVERNESS
A family affair
ALISON LANGLEY
On a breezy afternoon in September 2025, the Ted Hood-designed yawl THORA (left) and the Sparkman & Stephens-designed yawl INVERNESS (right) sail together in Maine’s Fox Islands Thorofare. Cheryle St. Onge and Vince Todd have built a rich family life around restoring and actively sailing these two yachts—as well as several earlier boats.
Many years ago, the legendary boatbuilder and author Bud McIntosh offered the following advice to a young man aspiring to restore a wooden boat: “Don’t be one of those guys whose kids watch him work on a boat for 15 years—and then they leave. Keep watch over your time, and make sure that you actually go sailing.” Vince Todd, the young man in question, took this sage counsel to heart, and in the ensuing years he has woven a rich family life around restoring and actively sailing a series of vintage wooden boats.
Vince, who lives in Durham, New Hampshire, is a respected builder of custom homes. Over the past quarter-century, he has also accomplished two comprehensive restorations of classic sailboats: the 1960 Ted Hood-designed yawl THORA (originally ROBIN TOO) and the Sparkman & Stephens-designed yawl INVERNESS, built in 1963. Working largely on his own and to very high standards, he has brought each boat back to Bristol condition. He has also sailed these yachts extensively while introducing his family to cruising and racing via many years of adventuring along the New England coast and beyond.
Like many people raised near the sea, Vince found his way to local waters at an early age. His initial explorations were carried out in a small rowing pram that he transported by red wagon to nearby riverbanks. Next came an Old Town dinghy powered by an Evinrude outboard. Sailing entered the picture by way of a 14′ MerryMac cat-rigged sharpie, which lived on a trailer and afforded Vince access to New Hampshire’s Great Bay, an expansive estuary studded with attractive islands and coves. Vince later came to know MerryMac designer and builder Ned McIntosh and his brother Bud, who mentored and guided him over many years.
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