David: A funny piece. Not to quibble too much, but Lyle Hess is proudly claimed by the State of Idaho as a native son. We are often confused with Iowa so Nebraska is not too much of a leap. I reference the following article and weblink. Lyle Hess: A profile By Chuck Malseed Reprinted from Cruising World Feb 1977 http://www.norseayachts.com/lylehess_a_profile.php Best Regards, Jim Desnoyers Ketchum, Idaho A native son of North Carolina montgomery_boats-request@mailman.xmission.com wrote:

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Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2008 16:37:38 -0600 From: "David C. Patterson" <davidcpatterson@msn.com> Subject: M_Boats: My friend says, tell me about your boat. I don't know a thing about boats. To: <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Message-ID: <BLU147-DAV8BC12793ED4503BC03355AC780@phx.gbl> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Someone might enjoy this. I had fun writing it to my friend, Joel.

"Joel.re: boats, specifically sailboats: an archaic mode of transportation now relegated to the world of entertainment, if, as has notoriously been commented, standing under a cold shower while tearing up $50 bills is entertainment (alternate image/description: a hole in the water into which one throws money). Many afficianados become afflicianados.that is, afflicted with a marine form of obsession. Now, as to my particular boat: a Montgomery 17, designed by a Nebraska boy turned yacht designer named Lyle Hess, justifiably famous for designing old-fashioned-looking, but fast, and especially sea-worthy, smaller yachts. His stated concern being to make sure that the boat that got you out there would be able to bring you back. He mused that he was particularly good at getting speed out of a small boat design. Through a set of applications of classical physics and an airfoil based on Bernoulli's principle (in other words: blocks, tackles, lines, and sails) plus a hopefully well-built and water-tight hull and some sort of rudder for a steering device, wind as motive power, and a preferably sober operator, said sailboat provides an opportunity to place oneself at the mercy of forces not to be conquered but to be endured.or more poetically, "flowed" with. The operator attempts to function in the weather as it presents itself. The result is often described by the phrase "That was fun!" or, "What a blast!" (By the bye, only 10% or so of human beings never get motion sick. Some of those are sailors, but not all.) By some estimates there may be about 700 of this particular size and style of boat in existence, built from the 1970's until contemporary times. Definitely a twentieth century article that harkens back to much earlier times. When I was in high school I had a 1957 MGA sports car. You get the analogy, I am sure, though this boat has more room for all that I fantasized about, back then. As for your own personal affliction, yes, the combination of light, shadow, and lines makes it an excellent study for artful black and white photography. At times photos of recreational sailors have even evinced expressions of stark but untidy emotions, followed by face-splitting grins of poorly disguised relief at having survived the sail. Still curious?"