Somewhere in the Suffolk County Historical Society on Long Island sat a dusty half-model of a boat most people had forgotten: Mariam, a 26ft racing catboat carved by legendary 19th-century boatbuilder Gil Smith in 1898. That attic relic is now the unlikely source material for Whirlwind II, a gleaming new wooden catboat that has already started winning trophies.

The story starts with Gil Smith, a Long Island designer who built shoal-draught catboats for shell fishermen who needed speed to get oysters and clams to market before they spoiled. His designs were so quick that they reportedly beat those of Nathanael Herreshoff, winner of five consecutive America's Cups between 1893 and 1920. Legend has it Herreshoff was once caught prowling Smith's boatyard, trying to work out what made his boats so fast.

Fast-forward a century. Yarrow Thorne, a Rhode Island designer, became obsessed after finding an 1899 photo of his great-grandfather, Edward Delafield, who had circumnavigated Long Island in a 21ft Smith catboat called Briseis. When it came to building a family boat, Thorne wanted a Smith design, but no book of his lines plans exists and Mariam herself vanished shortly after launch.

Enter Ezra Smith (no relation) of Newport Yacht Builders, who tracked down the half-model at the historical society. After some coaxing and a donation, Thorne was allowed to scan it. The 3D rendering was turned into full-size lines, with structural and sail plans developed from there, cross-checked against a single period article in The Rudder magazine and surviving Gil Smith boats. Details the model never showed, such as the centreboard trunk and rudder, were reconstructed from patterns in his other designs, and a 500lb lead shoe went into the keel.

Alec Brainerd's Artisan Boatworks in Maine brought the boat to life, blending old looks with modern build. The hull is cedar strip planking sheathed in glassfibre and epoxy, laminated Douglas fir frames sit on 12in centres, and while the boom is spruce, the 28ft mast and 16ft 10in gaff are carbon fibre, painted to pass as wood and engineered to carry a huge 536sq ft mainsail.

The result launched at the WoodenBoat Show at Mystic Seaport, taking a co-win in the Professionally Built category of the Concours d'Élegance, then went racing at the Herreshoff Classic Yacht Regatta on Narragansett Bay, where she held her own against far newer classics, surfing downwind at 11 knots.

Why should a traveller care? Because this is New England's maritime heritage made visible and seaworthy again. Smith catboats are rare enough that Mystic Seaport's single example draws crowds wanting to touch the transom, and classic yacht regattas around Narragansett Bay and Newport each summer are free to watch from shore or charter platforms. Boats like Whirlwind II are exactly what makes a sailing pilgrimage to Rhode Island or coastal Maine worth the trip, whether or not you ever set foot on deck.

Reported by Yachting World.