MARY SCOTT
An International 500 Yawl

This 32-foot masthead rigged auxiliary yawl lives up to her classification as an international 500. She was designed by an American, Robert Henry Jr. and built in Bremen, Germany by a Dutch boat-builder, DeDood and Sohn Yacht und Boatwerks in 1962. The designer, a graduate of MIT and a naval architect, worked for Sparkman and Stephens as a yacht designer of the well-known Oxford 400 sloops.

“Mary Scott” is one of fourteen International 500s built by DeDood and delivered to various yacht brokers and shipyards along the Eastern Seaboard of the United States during the early 1960s. A fleet of these fine yachts still rendezvous in Reykjavik, Iceland every year. After the age of wood, the International 500 was built for a number of years in fiberglass. The boat is known for her outstanding sailing characteristics, comfort and speed.

She is constructed of tight-seamed carvel African mahogany planking, bronze fastened over white oak frames with Burma teal decks secured from beneath (no plugs) and wheel steering. “Mary Scott” was shipped to St. Joseph, Michigan from Mystic Seaport in 1969 and sailed Lake Michigan for the next twelve years. She was then laid up at Grebe Boatyard for the next seven years and finally sold at sheriff’s auction at which time she was purchased by Allan and Dalia LeClair.

After extensive restoration (mostly cosmetic) she raced from Chicago to St. Joseph in the Classic Yacht Cruise in 1989 and won first place in her section. It is ironic that she should make her second Lake crossing back to St. Joe where she came from in 1969.

“Mary Scott” is moored on the Heritage star dock in Montrose Harbor, where everyone is Welcome aboard. As you may expect, Allan and Dalia are proud to show her off after rescuing her from a fate worse than death.