Comments and stories from Scuttlebutt

Ted asked Scuttlebutt readers to send in stories about Carl. I've gathered them and more.

SCUTTLEBUTT April 4, 1999

CARL EICHENLAUB

Friday morning San Diego's Carl Eichenlaub was in a very serious Auto accident. Carl was driving his golf cart down Rosecrans when an Explorer ran a red light and hit Carl broadside. Carl has been taken to U.C.S.D. Medical Center. The latest word on Carl is a couple broken ribs, severely broken left shoulder and arm. The ball in his shoulder was broken off, so they are either going to pin it, or do a shoulder replacement. All things considered, Carl is doing well, and may go home from the hospital Sunday. Hard to keep Carl down. - Steve Ross

SCUTTLEBUTT No. 667 - October 13, 2000

WELL DESERVED

US SAILING has announced that Carl Eichenlaub (San Diego, Calif.) will be the recipient of the 2000 Nathanael G. Herreshoff Trophy. The award, US SAILINGs most prestigious, is bestowed annually to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the sport of sailing in this country in any associated activity.

Eichenlaub has been a mainstay of the U.S. Olympic Sailing program for over twenty years. In 1979 he accompanied the Team attending the Pan Am Games as the official boatwright, a position he has held with five subsequent Pan Am Games Teams, two Goodwill Games Teams and six Olympic Teams. With an ability to fix boats that has become legendary, Eichenlaub now travels to each event with a specially outfitted 40 container that holds, among other things, a swedging machine, drill press, compressors, as well as a microwave for curing resin.

The 70 year-young Eichenlaub, who seldom sits around with nothing to do, is frequently approached by foreign athletes with damaged equipment and seldom refuses a request for assistance once his work for the U.S. team is complete. His dedication to our sailors is unfailing and never more apparent than now - Eichenlaub suffered a broken hip at the Athletes Village during the Olympic Games yet maintained his duties while on crutches.

Following a week of R&R at home he will return to Australia to assist the 2000 Paralympic Sailing Team during their competition scheduled for October 20-27 in Sydney. The owner/operator of Eichenlaub Marine can be found playing with a local symphony when not messing about with boats. - Jan Harley

SCUTTLEBUTT No. 668 - October 16, 2000

-- From Ted Ritter, Fort Lauderdale - It was circa 1960 when Carl Eichenlaub was a 30 year old builder of wood Lightning class sloops in San Diego, his boats were so highly regarded that the motto became; "Any slob can will in an Eichenlaub" Carl himself would show up at regattas at my club (Coronado YC) resplendent in low riding, boat glue covered jeans, threatening to fall down any second, rumpled hair and a look like he had just been awakened. More often than not, he would sail one his own master pieces to take a top finish. As a 16 yr. old Penquin skipper at the time, Carl, for me is a fond & indelible memory. Carl not only exemplifies the spirit of the Nathaniel B. Herreshoff trophy, but is very much like Nat himself. A perfect choice.

-- From Dave Soderlund, Honolulu - My mind picture is Carl walking around Big Boat with bib-overalls, cap, a big cigar stuck in his mouth, and wool gloves with the fingers cut off. I have a Sabot he build sitting in my garage he built in 196?. What a guy! Well deserved!

SCUTTLEBUTT Aug 1 2003

HONORED

Sailing's wizard of boat repair, Carl Eichenlaub (San Diego, Calif.), will have a prominent role in the opening ceremonies of the XIV Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Eichenlaub was elected to represent the entire U.S. delegation -- 640 athletes competing in 36 sports -- and will carry the U.S. flag into Juan Pablo Duarte Olympic Stadium on Friday evening, August 1, 2003.

The 73-year young boat builder, who has been a mainstay of the U.S. Olympic Sailing program for 27 years, made his first trip to the Pan Am Games in 1979 as the team's Official Boatwright. While the trip to Santo Domingo marks the seventh time he has accompanied sailors to the Pan Am Games, Eichenlaub has also supported the U.S.A.'s Olympic Team-Sailing onsite at six Olympic Regattas ('76, '84, '88, '92, '96 and 2000).

His dedication to the athletes was never more apparent than in 2000 when he suffered a broken hip at the Athlete's Village in Sydney and maintained his duties while on crutches. After a week of R&R at home in California, he returned to Sydney to assist the athletes of the U.S.A.'s 2000 Paralympic Sailing Team. Recognizing Eichenlaub's outstanding contributions, US SAILING, national governing body for the sport, awarded him its most prestigious award, the Nathanael G. Herreshoff Trophy, in 2000.

Eichenlaub typically travels to each event with a specially outfitted 40' container that holds, among other things, a swedging machine, drill press, compressors, as well as a microwave for curing resin. Frequently approached by foreign athletes with damaged equipment, Eichenlaub seldom refuses a request for assistance once his work for the U.S. team is complete. -Jan Harley, Media Pro, http://www.ussailing.org/Olympics/PanAm

Aug 4 2003 Scuttlebutt

From Ted Livingston: Thank you, Bud Thompson, for sharing the news of the passing of one of Hawaii's elite sailors, Capt. Robert Leary, USCG Ret. After dropping out of the Academy to sail with Irving Johnson around the world aboard Yankee in '39, WWII put him right back on track with the USCG, as one of their most experienced and trustworthy SAILORS. I understand that, as such, he was sent to Germany, after the war, to bring home the "war prize" square-rigger "Horst Wessel," which now is the USCG bark "Eagle." Also, three cheers for Carl Eichenlaub of your lead article this morning. He was a member of my first junior sailing class, at Mission Bay Yacht Club in 1946. "You've come a long way, baby."

* From Vickie Matthews: I'm delighted to hear that Carl will be representing the entire U.S. delegation at the Pan Am Games. It is an honor that I'm sure he humbly accepted. There are many great stories about Carl and he always has a crowd around him that he shares his stories to. My experience with Carl was in the Pan Am Games when our new Lightning arrived without the required anchor. I went to Carl to ask if he had a spare and he said no, scratched his head and said he would come up with something. Sure enough, he came by the boat a little later with an acceptable grappling hook welded out of some threaded rod, complete with an eye and line attached (this wouldn't meet class rules today). We sold the boat minus the anchor - it was a treasure. Another time in St. Pete the power had been cut off to the island due to the Storm of the Century. Carl hooked his motor home generator up to the hoists so that people had power to get their boats out of the water. A very creative and innovative thinker that Carl is!

* From Clark Chapin: To the well deserved list of Carl's accomplishments, I feel compelled to add that upon returning to San Diego after the 2000 Olympics (broken hip and all), he traveled to New Orleans to receive the Herreshoff Award in person before returning to Sydney for the Paralympic Games.As an attendee of the 2000 US SAILING Annual General Meeting, I was really impressed.

* Jack Spangler: Noting the story about Carl Eichenlaub reminds this old-timer of the slogan ditty of 40-50 years ago when Carl was building Star boats: "Any slob can win in an Eichenlaub." Thanks for the reminder.

Scuttlebutt August 5, 2003

From Peter Harken: "Any slob can win in an Eichenlaub!" Lightnings, Stars, Flying Dutchman, the first modern day ocean racers… no-one could out build Carl for speed in building and performance in his day. No one! No one has given so much of his volunteer time to US Sailing Olympic and Pan American competitors in keeping the racing stable of boats in Gold Medal condition. No one can beat Carl in an emergency repair, but best of all, no one can match him in his wonderful big grin attitude with any boat problem, no one is more fun to be with and watch when he becomes all hammers and tongs and carbon and goop and "make way, stand back and you can sleep when you're dead" as he dives into the job. You can't help but grin from ear to ear because no one can "out-dirt" Carl during a job and no one has a wardrobe that wouldn't exactly be deemed as "best dressed" like Carl's! He also plays classical Oboe in a San Diego symphony orchestra and believe it or not, is dressed in a proper penguin type suit. Man, how we all love that guy. What a treasure to sailing!

* From Ted Livingston: Not to continue the Eichenlaub thread, unduly, but let me mention just one more example of his legendary resourcefulness: this from his first Olympics at Kingston in 1976. It was early in the use of aluminum masts in the Finn Class. Many competitors failed the mast flotation test, because the sailtrack rivets were working, allowing water to seep in. Carl hopped aboard his trusty bicycle, rode to town, and bought-up cans of radiator sealant. He mixed the sealant with boiling water, and poured it into the ailing US masts. After a few minutes of dripping, "Voila" the test was passed --- and most of the other teams made

a beeline for the gas stations of Kingston!

Curmudgeon's comment: Ted's letter breaks our rule of one letter per subject, but I liked the story. However, I think it is time to end this thread. If you would like to add to Ted's collection of "Carl Stories," he

is compiling them at TLiving777@aol.com.

Scuttlebutt August 5, 2003

PAN AM GAMES EXTRA

This comes from Scuttlebutt cub reporter and ISAF President Paul Henderson: "I am at the Pan Am Games in the Dominican Republic. I would like to refute the statement that Carl Eichenlaub totally works as a volunteer. I saw him yesterday and he said he was in deep trouble with the USA team (stated with his usual sneaky smile and USA suspenders). The Canadian girls Mistral Board arrived with major splits in the sides. Carl immediately repaired the Canadian Board and after convincing the measurers that it was not outside the rules the Canadian girl won the first race. It cost me two cigars to get Carl back in his usual laid-back style. He has done this constantly for other teams throughout his career as the 'USA Boat Boy.' What a true Olympian he is. I was so proud to think that the USA Team would pick him to carry the USA flag. You all should have been there to see how proud Carl was."

Curmudgeon's comment: Paul somehow got this note through our firewall, but we have updated our settings and have closed again the "Carl" thread.

SCUTTLEBUTT 1536 - March 10, 2004

* From Peter Huston: Carl Eichenlaub is one of the living legends of the sport. While a great sailor, boatbuilder, and story teller, he's better defined by all the people he has helped to become better sailors, and human beings. The boat that he is building for his daughter is so much more than that, it's really a statement about what makes this sport so wonderful: family, and respect for tradition. Sailing World should honor the man who has done so much for so many without ever asking for anything but friendship in return by putting him in the Hall of Fame this year.

* From Janet Baxter, President, US Sailing: What a delightful story about our friend Carl Eichenlaub! I can't think of that fellow without smiling and without deep appreciation for all he's done for sailing.

SCUTTLEBUTT 1640 - August 5, 2004

* From Mason Chrisman: Yes, Carl Eichenlaub is a wizard at fixing boats and boat "stuff." But many remember what a great sailor he was. I know - he used to beat our brains out in the Lightening Mid Winters years ago when he

came east.

SCUTTLEBUTT 1571 - April 28, 2004

* From Ted Livingston (An additional comment on water in dinghy masts): At Kingston, in 1976, the Finns were using aluminum masts for the first time at the Olympics. There was a flotation test for the masts themselves. The Americans found that the rivets in their masts were "working" resulting in unexpected leakage, and failure to pass the flotation test. Boatwright Carl Eichenlaub hopped on his bike and bought radiator fluid at a gasoline station. He poured this fluid, along with boiling water from a tea kettle, into a mast. Everyone watched the drip-drip-drip slow to a d-r-i-p, and then stop altogether. The masts passed the test, and Carl established himself as our permanent Olympic Boatwright, poised now to fly to Athens.

* From Peter Huston: Carl Eichenlaub certainly deserves to be in the Sailing World Hall of Fame - yes he won alot of races, yes he built a lot of great boats - not the least of which was the Doug Peterson designed "Ganbare", which with a really limited budget helped to change the face of big boat sailing, and yes he has helped many Olympians, whether they are part of the US team or not, to have perfectly prepared boats during the Games. But what I remember most about the guy so many of us have the honor and privilege of calling a friend is the time and patience he took to help anyone who asked for his help to become a better sailor. And the best lessons I learned from Carl had nothing to do with sailing.

* From August Miller: Carl Eichenlaub has been the U.S. Sailing Team boatwright at the Pan Am and Olympic Games since 1976 not 1979. It was in

1976 at Kingston when Carl stopped the leaks in Peter Commette's aluminum Finn masts so they would pass the flotation test by filling them with boiling water and adding auto radiator stop leak. Carl has never watched a race at any of the Pan Am and Olympic Games where he has been the boatwright because someone might have needed his help on an emergency basis. The goodwill he has generated by repairing the boats of other nations has smoothed out rough patches for many US sailing competitors.

* From Ted Livingston: Hats off to David Doody (regarding his letter in 2209). I say that he is right regarding "Messing about in boats." Here’s an example from the life and times of Carl Eichenlaub: While still a teen-ager, he had built an International 14. He had become so good, already, that he was named to represent the West Coast in the very first Mallory Cup (won eventually by "Corny" Shields). After another regatta for the I-14 fleet, at Newport Harbor YC, instead of hauling out onto a trailer, he and his crew were seen loading sleeping bags and bags of food into the '14. Here is what Carl said, as retold to me years ago by the late Chuck Kober:

"Whither bound, Carl?"

"Home to San Diego."

"You can't sail a '14 to San Diego!"

"How do you think we got here?"