Recreational rowing boat Spirit® Minto 9’

classic

The Minto 9 is prized for its use as a dinghy, tender, or simply a small rowboat. It rows exceptionally well with one, two or three adults on board. In the late 1950s, the “original” wooden Minto was found washed up on the grounds of “Our Lady Minto Hospital” on Saltspring Island by builder Ed Hoppen who named it the “Minto”. It was estimated to have been built by an unknown builder at the turn of the century. In the late 1950s, Ed took the hull down to his shop in Gig Harbor, Washington. where he built the fist fiberglass models using the original as a pattern. Years later it several hundred more Mintos were produced by Ranger Yachts based in Seattle, Washington. ‘Pelagic Pacific Boatbuilders’ owned by Les Curley purchased a Minto mold from Ed Hopen in the early 60s. Over the next ten years, he built over a thousand hulls at his shop in Victoria, British Columbia. Whitehall Rowing & Sail first produced the Minto 9 in 1988. The elegant fiberglass teak and bronze ‘treatment’ given to this little classic makes it popular for adorning the decks of sailboats, on transoms of motor yachts, or being towed smoothly along behind. It’s also popular as a small rowboat lakes and ponds all across America. Where the Minto really excels is how it handles, rowing exceptionally well with one, two, or three adults on board. Due to generous freeboard, well-positioned seats and oarlocks, this boat performs efficiently in light wave conditions and is also renowned for stability when boarding. One curious thing about the Minto is that the third strake down at the bow is a little narrow. It’s been faithfully reproduced that way ever since it was first reproduced.