![]() ![]() Whitby hull numbers 1 to 199 were reserved for Canada while 200 and up were assigned to Fort Myers. ![]() The Brewer 12.8 was born in 1983 and the first eight hulls were identical. The partners at Fort Myers were delighted to build the new design since that would give them design authority, something they did not have while building Whitbys. The Long Island group went to Fort Myers to see if they would build the boat. Kurt Hansen said no, that would make the boat too expensive. The consortium asked Kurt Hansen if he would build the boat to their revised design. The most important change to the new mold was the “Brewer bite” keel with a skeg mounted rudder to improve her light air performance. They settled on a Whitby 42 with 100 changes (Yachting, 1983). In 1983 a consortium of sailors led by Harold Oldak from the Manhasset Bay area of Long Island, New York decided they wanted their ultimate cruising boat. The Fort Myers Whitbys were casually called Florida Whibys. In around 1980, the Hansens commissioned Fort Myers Yacht and Shipbuilding Inc on the west coast of Florida to build Whibys because they could not meet the exceptional demand. Previous to this, Whitby Boat Works had built the Alberg 30 and Alberg 37. ![]() The Hansens went on to build over 200 hulls from 1973 to somewhere around 1990. The first Whitby 42 splashed out of their yard in 1973. Brewer & Associates to design her in 1972. Kurt and Doris Hansen of Whitby Boatworks in Ontario, Canada were the first to build these sailboats. ![]() But you cannot talk about one without touching on the others, so if you are in the market for a 42 or 12.8, this article should include useful information too. The easiest one to differentiate is the Brewer 44 ostensibly the subject of this review. I was kayaking the Fruit Isles in Fort Lauderdale the other day and passed by the nice 12.8 in the featured photo below. I seem to see Whitby and Brewers everywhere these days and have been fine tuning my identification skills to pick between the three versions: 42’s, 12.8’s, and 44’s. Brewer 12.8 Original PDF Brochure (Click to Download) Additional thanks goes to some Aussie and Canadian friends. A big thanks goes to Captain Finney for historical and technical corrections. This article was re-posted with significant updates on February 29, 2012. ![]()
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